Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from Getty Research Institute https://archive.org/details/handbookofmuseum00muse_1 HANDBOOK OF THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BOSTON DESCRIBING AND ILLUSTRATING A SELECTION OF REPRESENTATIVE OBJECTS IN ALL THE COLLECTIONS WITH HISTORICAL INTRODUCTIONS THE FENWAY HUNTINGTON AVENUE THE MUSEUM IS MAINTAINED AND DEVELOPED WHOLLY BY GIFTS OF PRIVATE CITIZENS ADMISSION IS FREE TO ALL Fifteenth Edition OCTOBER, 1922 MAIN FLOOR PLAN MAIN FLOOR From the Huntington Avenue entrance the stairway leads to the chief galleries of all the departments except that of Prints. The galleries of Prints occupy the eastern half of the ground floor of the Evans Building, entered also from the Fenway. On the main floor the galleries of Chinese and Japanese Art and of Western Art are reached directly from the Rotunda on either hand. The galleries of Paintings are reached through the Tapestry Gallery, opening opposite the stairs. The galleries of Egyptian Art and Classical Art open from the end of the right-hand (Coptic) corridor. In all these departments the exhibits are arranged chronologically as far as practicable. The Library is over the main entrance. In recognition of the gift of its fittings in memory of the late William Morris Hunt, it has received the name of the William Morris Hunt Memorial Library. The books are not from Mr. Hunt's library, but are the collection gathered by the Museum during the past forty years. The pictures and tapestries on the walls are also from the Museum collections. The Library stack is not open to visitors. The William Morris Hunt Memorial Gallery, containing paintings and drawings by Mr. Hunt, is over the Library, and is reached by the elevator at the right of the entrance hali. The use of fountain pens is not permitted in the galleries. The Museum is open free to all every day in the year, ext cepting the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving Day, and Chrisfcrr_as.| Hours on weekdays, 10 A. M. to 5 P. M. (closing during November at 4.30; during December and January at 4; during February at 4.30); Sundays 1 to 5 P. M. Children under ten years of age .a/e not admitted unless accompanied by an adult. The doorkeeper will check canes and umbrellas, also when possible cloaks and packages, without charge. At the Sales Office, to the right after passing the turnstile, the publications of the Museum and photographs of objects may be purchased. A Visitors’ Book for the entering of names will be found on the desk. Comments and suggestions will be gladly received from visitors. The use of a wheel chair in the galleries may be obtained without charge on application here; with an attendant the charge is fd.00 per hour. Apply here also to see any officer of the Museum. A public telephone will be found here, and the City Directory and Railway Guide may be consulted. The Restaurant in the basement of the Japanese wing, reached by the corridor to the left from the main entrance, is open to visitors from noon until 4 P. M. (a hot lunch from noon to 2 P. M.) daily, excepting Sundays and holidays. At the branch telephone exchange at the end of the corridor to the left from the entrance hall, stamps may be obtained and letters posted. The public lavatories are reached from the transverse corridor back of the main stairs (women to the right, men to the left). All articles are received at the business entrance, reached from Huntington Avenue by the pathway west of the Museum building or by the driveway beyond the School building. DOCENT SERVICE Upon request representatives of the Museum will accompany visitors in the galleries for the explanation of exhibits. COPYING AND PHOTOGRAPHING Application to copy or photograph any object in the Museum should be made at the Director’s office. Easels and space to keep materials are provided for students. HANDBOOK OF THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BOSTON DESCRIBING AND ILLUSTRATING A SELECTION OF REPRESENTATIVE OBJECTS IN ALL THE COLLECTIONS WITH HISTORICAL INTRODUCTIONS THE FENWAY r . %. -iLUr O- _jU O. ®- CO M 3 tc Ypp 1 * t: O |— !|- LU i! t '%iO HUNTINGTON AVENUE THE MUSEUM IS MAINTAINED AND DEVELOPED WHOLLY BY GIFTS OF PRIVATE CITIZENS ADMISSION IS FREE TO ALL Fifteenth Edition OCTOBER, 1922 The present Handbook (Price 75 cents) describes and illustrates the collections with¬ out regard to changes of exhibition. The t inding Lists prefacing some of the sections give the gallery or room where the object illustrated on each page can be found. The illustrated Leaflet Guide (5 cents at the entrance) gives brief descriptions of the contents of all the galleries. The manifolded Inserts sold with the Guide describe changes of exhibition since the Guide was printed. CONTENTS Egyptian Art Page Finding List . 1 Introduction. 3 Galleries .. . Off. Classical Art Finding List .59 Introduction .. 61 Galleries . 66 ff. Pictures Finding List ..133 On Western Art to the end of the Renaissance, 135 Galleries .142 ft. On Dutch Painting .. 164 On French Painting in the Nineteenth Century.. 177 On Early American Painting.193 Western Art Finding List.209 Muhammadan Introduction: the Nearer Orient .... 211 Galleries ... 214ff. On Persian Painting.223 On Weaving.230 European Art Galleries . 237 ff. On Lace.. 253 On Amber.. 265 Indian Art Introduction.273 Corridor.281 CONTENTS vi Chinese and Japanese Art Page Introduction.297 Sculpture.307 Paintings.322 Prints.349 Minor Arts: Introduction.354 Chinese Bronze.350 Sword Furniture..301 Lacquer .303 Chinese Pottery.305 Chinese Porcelain.309 Chinese Tapestry.372 Morse Collection of Japanese Pottery . . . 373 Collection of Prints.379 Collection of Casts Greek and Roman Sculpture.405 Italian Renaissance Sculpture.408 Synoptical Table of the History' of Art .... 411 The Museum and Its History - 415 EGYPTIAN ART FINDING LIST Page 9, 10 11-15 16 17-23 24 25-36 37 38 39, 40 41, 42 44-48 49, 50 51 52-55 56 Gallery Primitive Old Empire Primitive Mastaba Egyptian Reserve (Ground Floor) Mastaba New Empire Way Room New Empire Mastaba New Empire Vestibule New Empire Ptolemaic Coptic Corridor Main Floor EGYPTIAN ART T HE collections of the Egyptian Department offer to the visitor ample opportunities for the study and enjoyment of Egyptian Art. The nucleus of the collection is the portion known, from its donor, as the C. Granville Way Collection, which was pre¬ sented to the Museum in 1872. Liberal gifts from private individuals, the returns from contributions to the Egypt Exploration Fund and the Egyptian Re¬ search Account, and the finds” of the several suc¬ cessful expeditions which the Museum has sent into the field, have since then greatly increased the collection. Egyptian art is, through its long course of nearly five thousand years, the continuous expression of the creative spirit of a single race. This race, homogene¬ ous and strongly individual, both in its physical char¬ acteristics and its culture, gained during the first of those five millenniums a perfect mastery over the hard materials of the earth, and worked out thereafter one of the two great civilizations of the ancient world. Egypt in the south and Babylonia in the east, power¬ ful in their influence on the classical world, represent the sources of our modern culture. Handicraft is but one phase of culture. Its products, the only tangible remains of the early life of the Egyptians, embody for us the characteristics of the race and the culture. It is from these products of the handicrafts that we must build up not merely our knowledge of the technical methods of the Egyptians, but also the interpretation of their intentions and of their appreciation of those objects which appeal to our 4 EGYPTIAN ART taste as masterpieces of art; for it is to be distinctly borne in mind that the study of Egyptian art must be approached from a strictly historical standpoint unham¬ pered by modern ideals. So only can it be fully under¬ stood and appreciated. The land of Egypt is a long, narrow valley of extra¬ ordinary fertility, lying between two rocky deserts. The valley owes its life to the Nile annually bringing down from Central Africa and the Abyssinian hills a rich silt, and saturating the soil with moisture. The climate is that of the dry desert. But neither climate nor landscape is so monotonous as seems at first sight. The desert is not a waste of sand, but a high plateau of rock broken by hills and ravines, and crossed by the fiercest of wind storms. The seasonal changes are marked. The effect of climate and landscape on the character of a race is an intangible thing, difficult to estimate and easy to exaggerate. But the effect of the conditions of life forced on the inhabitants by the physical character of a country is a thing which may be calculated with a certain amount of precision. In Egypt agriculture, cattle raising, and shipping are all predetermined as the earliest elements of life. So also the architecture was dependent on the simple necessi¬ ties of the climate and the available materials — reeds, wood, mud-brick, and stone. The other natural re¬ sources, hard stones, metals, and other minerals, are bound in turn to stimulate the growth of technical skill and to influence the conditions under which the culture develops. The river furnishes the constant easy means of communication which always permitted the distribution of products and of knowledge, and maintained the homogeneity of race and culture during all periods. The deserts on each side prevented the rise of any power near enough to threaten the national character until it had reached its highest forms. In this isolated, unchanging, and life-sustaining INTRODUCTION 5 environment, we find at the earliest dawn of Egyptian history a race of almost neolithic savages living in a tribal state by means of agricul- 4500 jg. c. ture, hunting, herding, and simple handi¬ crafts, The weapons and implements are of flint and stone. Woodcarving, basket-making, tanning, and pot-making are fully developed. The products of all the handicrafts show the same characteristics which mark Egyptian art as a whole—-patience and courage in treating the hardest materials, simplicity and sense in the selection of practical forms, a facility in catching the characteristic lines of animals, and a love of finish. More than all this, the products of these primitive arts show a devotion to utility which was never lost. In this early period we see the beginning of Egyptian art and Egyptian technique. The methods of working the stone maceheads, vessels, and slate paint-palettes in animal forms are essentially the same as those employed in the reliefs, statuary, and stone vessels of later ages. The beginning of drawing, painting, and ornamenta¬ tion are found in the line drawings on the pottery, the white line decorated pottery, and in the basket-work patterns. The first advance was brought by the 4000 B c invention of copper working, probably the greatest of all discoveries in its effect. Within a few hundred years at most, after the in¬ troduction of copper weapons, the Egyptian tribes were forced into a political union under an absolute monarch. The use of copper implements, the dis¬ covery of beds of minerals, the invention of the stone- borer and the bow-drill, the development of a canal system, the invention of writing for administrative purposes — all contributed to a great na- 3000 B c tional prosperity, whose resources were at ^ the disposal of a single royal family. In 24 °° the service of the needs and of the ostentation of this to 3000 B. C. 6 EGYPTIAN ART family, the old mud-brick architecture was transposed into stone architecture, while painting, sculpture, and all the handicrafts were developed to their highest point. Thus during Dynasties IV and V Egyptian culture in all its phases, including art, reached its culmination. So for as technical methods are con¬ cerned, the Egyptians learned little after this period except glass-making. The canon of proportions, the rule of frontality, all the usual compositions were fixed. The different orders of columns, the square pillar, the palm, the nymphaea caerulea, the nymphaea lotus were all in use, as well as the true vault, the barrel vault, and the corbel vault. 1600 b c. After this culminating period the products 1200 b c Egyptian art vary in number and beauty with the varying economical and political conditions of the country. But the technique remains the same, and the old excellence is seldom equalled and never exceeded. The great changes came in the New Empire, when contact with Asia, the Mediterra¬ nean Isles, and the east coast of Africa brought in new subject-matter— thfe horse, battle scenes, new animals, new plants, strange men. The greatest change of all came in the time of Akhenaton (Amenophis IV), as a reflection of the religious reform made by that monarch. But here again the change was due to subject-matter rather than to any modification in the character of Egyptian art. The art was always practical and real¬ istic. The physical type of the god-king had always been the ideal type. The use of the degenerate form of Akhenaton as the ideal type startles us, but is only in conformity with olden practice. So also the relaxa¬ tion of court forms and dignity under this strange man ; s faithfully represented in the reliefs quite in con¬ formity with the rules of the old art. Thus it is that the return of the old established social and religious order under Dynasty XIX brings back the old forms INTRODUCTION 7 ol the art. In fact, the whole work of Akhenaton appears more a question of political economics than of religion or of art. That king, far from being a religious dreamer, was a politician who felt the closing grasp of the Amon priesthood on the monarchy, and attempted to break the financial power of that priest¬ hood. He failed, and the succeeding dynasty saw the domination of the priestly power over I200 B c the monarchy. The foreign possessions ^ c were lost. Egypt fell a prey first to the mercenaries brought in by a feeble, cruel, and avaricious priesthood, and then to foreign conquerors, Ethiopians and Assyrians. In 663 B. C., for the last time, a strong native monarchy was reestablished under Psammetic I, and Egypt turned with enthusiasm to the forms and ideas of Egypt of the Old Empire, Egypt of the period of the culmination of its culture. When the old priest¬ hoods were revived and the old titles of honor, whose functions were forgotten, then also the old monuments were copied and imitated, but with a certain sweet delicacy, a certain effeminacy and aestheticism which were happily lacking in the old art. This renaissance period ended practically with the Persian conquest in 525 B. C. Egyptian culture clung tenaciously to its fixed forms through the Ptolemaic period (332—30 B. C.) and the Roman period (30 B. C.~ 300 A. D.). It lost its identity with the introduction of Christianity. The last stand made by civilized paganism against Christianity was in the Isis Temple at Philae, where the services were maintained as late as the fifth century after Christ. THE DIVISIONS OF EGYPTIAN HISTORY ARE 1. Predynastic Period. About 4500-3300 B. C. 2. Early Dynastic Period. 3300-3000 B. C. Dynasties I and II. 3. Old Empire. 3000-2400 B. C. Dynasties III-VI. The great culminating period. 8 EGYPTIAN ART 4. The Intermediate Period. 2400-9100 B. C. Dynasties VII-X. Political disunion and economic depression. 5. Middle Umpire,. 2100-1700 B. C. Dynasties XI-XIII. 6. The, Hyksos Period. 1700-1600 B. C. Dynasties XIV- XVI. Disunion and subjection to foreigners. 7. New Empire. 1700-1200 B. C. Dynasties XVII-XIX. Period of political and religious organization. Economic prosperity based largely on foreign conquest. Great architectural activity. 8. Late Period. 1200-663 B. C. Dynasties XX-XXV. Dom¬ ination of Anion priesthood. Usurpation of Libyan mer¬ cenaries. Conquest of Egypt by ^Ethiopia and Assyria. 0. Renaissance. 663-525 B. C. Dynasty XXVI. 10. Persian Period. 525-332 B. C. Dynasties XXVII-XXX. 11. Ptolemaic Period. 332-30 B. C. 12. Roman Period. 30 B. C.-394 A. D. 13. Byzantine (Coptic) Period. 394-638 A. D. 14. Moslem Period. 638 A. D. to present day. The following list of books is made for the convenience of visitors who wish to become acquainted with the more im¬ portant features of ancient Egyptian history and art. The books are all of them in the Museum Library, where they are accessible to the public. The visitor will find many other publications in French, German, and English in the Library, as well as a great number of photographs. K. Baedeker (Editor), Egypt. 2 vols., dealing with Upper and Lower Egypt. Egypt Exploration Fund, Atlas of Ancient Egygit. 1894. W. M. Flinders Petrie and others, A History of Egypt. J. H. Breasted, A History of Egypt. 1905. G. Maspero: The Dawn of Civilization. 1894. The Struggle of the Nations. 1896. The Passing of the Empires. 1900. Manual of Egyptian Archaeology. 1889. Translation from the French by A. B. Edwards. A. Erman, Life in Ancient Egypt, . 1894. Translation by H. M. Tirard. Jean Capart, Primitive Art in Egypt. Translated by A. S. Griffith, 1905, with revision by the author. W. M. Flinders Pelrie, Egyptian Tales. 2 vols. An English adaptation of the ancient stories translated into French by Maspero. PREDYNASTIC 9 Flint Implements, Jewelry, etc. Predynastic The collection of objects from the predynastic period is small but fully characteristic. The beautiful chip¬ ping of the flint weapons and implements, the wonder¬ ful finish of the stone mace-heads and vessels, show the highest technical skill attained by neolithic man. The copper harpoons, imitating in form the bone harpoons, are among the earliest examples of metal work found in Egypt. to EGYPTIAN ART H l Vliite Line Decorated Pottery Predynastic The pottery vessels of red-burnished soft brown ware, decorated with drawings in white or yellow lines, belong to the early predynastic period. They are contemporaneous with the flint implements. The drawings show the very beginnings of the art which nroduced the later paintings and painted reliefs. The pottery vessels of hard, fine, pink ware, decorated with drawings in red lines, are characteristic of the copper period, and mark a decided improvement in the material used in the pottery. The color of the line drawings has been changed from white to red to obtain a contrast with the lighter background. The symbols introduced in the standards on the boats are the sym¬ bols used later to designate the deities of the tribal nomes, and they represent the very beginning of the invention of hieroglyphic writing. Red Line Decorated Pottery j Middle Predynastic OLD EMPIRE Portrait Statue in Wood of Senedem-ib-Meliy Dynasty VI From Giza This statue has been compared in artistic quality with the Dynasty IV statue of Sheik-el-Beled 1 in the Cairo Museum, which is the most famous wood-carving from Ancient Egypt. 1 A cast of this statue may be seen in the Study Series on the ground floor. 12 EGYPTIAN ART Gold and Faience Necklace of Tm-Thepy Dynasty VI This unusual necklace was found in the tomb of Itn-Thepy at Giza. Other objects from his tomb, including his inscribed alabaster head-rest and copper sacrificial vessels, may be seen in the same case. His wooden coffin is on exhibition in the Study Series. OLD EMPIRE 13 Colored Statuettes of Ptah-khenuwi and his Wife Dynasty V This pair statue of a common priest of Dynasty V and his wife is exactly like the slate pair on page 17 in grouping and attitude. It was found in the statue chamber of the mastaba of Ptah-khenuwi in the ceme¬ tery of the priests of Cheops. In Dynasty V the funerary priests of Cheops utilized the streets and open places of the royal cemetery as sites for their own tombs. Ptah-khenuwi was one of these, and his statu¬ ettes show the impulse given to private art by the execution of the great masterpieces of Dynasty IV sculpture. The man who made this pair statuette had almost certainly seen our Mycerinus statues and had 14 EGYPTIAN ART perhaps worked as an apprentice with the Mycerinus sculptors. The statuettes were intended for portraits, as was required by the purpose which they served. The stone is limestone. The conventional colors show the finished aspect of all Egyptian statuary, and make us realize how fortunate it is that the color has been lost from our great masterpieces. The small head of lime¬ stone (lf& inches high) — throughout the Old Empire this material was greatly favored by the sculptors — shows well the climax reached by the artists of the Old Em¬ pire in making small portraits. The face is that of a man in middle life, and shows an ordinary, matter-of-fact per¬ son, fairly well conditioned, and viewing the world good- naturedly. The type of head is totally different from the patrician of the IV Dynasty shown on page 26 . The earlier portrait is clean-cut and aristocratic; this small head is that of some man one can easily imagine to Portrait Head of Limestone have worked his way up tiom Dynasty F the ranks. OLD EMPIRE 15 Magical Set of Cheops Dynasty IV Sets of magical implements have often been found in graves of the Old and Middle Empires. The set found in the Valley Temple of Mycerinus consists of dummy vases and a flint implement-called a peseshkef- wand, bearing the two names of Cheops. This wand applied to the lips of the dead man enabled him to speak and recite the magical formulas necessary to a happy future life. The objects of this set furnish a striking example of the wonderful power over hard stone possessed by the workmen of this period. 1 6 EGYPTIAN ART Ceremonial Stone Vessels Dynasty 1 V In the predynastic period stone vessels were very rare, because of the labor involved in hand carving and the difficulty of getting suitable blocks of stone. During Dynasty I, when the use of copper implements had come to its full effect, stone vessels entirely replaced the fine pottery vessels, undoubtedly owing to the opening of the quarries and the invention of the weighted stone borer. In Dynasty III vessels made on the potter’s wheel appear for the first time, and in the succeeding dynasties the wheel-made pottery vessels replaced the stone vessels in daily use. But for many purposes stone vessels as objects of luxury still continued to be made, especially as ceremonial vessels for the graves of kings and nobles. The series of ceremonial stone vessels from the Valley Temple of Mycerinus show the great variety of stones at the command of the artisans of Dynasty IV—alabaster, several kinds of limestone, diorite, syenite, granite, basalt, porphyry, slate, crystal, and brecchia. The outside appears in all cases to be formed and finished by hand. Some of the undressed vessels show a pounded surface similar to that of the unfinished stat¬ uettes. The inside was bored out with the weighted stone borer or by the copper cylinder borer, though certain parts were rubbed out by hand. A few of these vessels which bear the names of earlier kings, and some others which are of archaic form, were prob¬ ably taken from the temples of earlier tombs. OLD EMPIRE I 7 Slate Group : Mycerinus and His Queen Dynasty IV The collection of Old Empire sculpture comes from the excavations of the Egyptian expedition sent out by Harvard University and the Museum of Fine Arts. This expedition worked during the period 1905 to 1910 i8 EGYPTIAN ART at the pyramids of Giza, and was especially successful in the excavation of the temples attached to the Third Pyramid, built by Myeerinus about 2800 B. C. Half of the statues found became by law the property of the Khedivial Museum and half are now in the Museum of Fine Arts. The importance of these statues for the history of Egyptian art lies not merely in their beauty, but also in the fact that they are the first masterpieces of the great creative fourth dynasty to be dated beyond dispute. They have enabled us to remove the un¬ certainty regarding the date of the royal statues of Chephren and to identify the Sphinx as a portrait of Chephren. The unfinished statues show the technical methods of the Egyptian workmen, and the finished statues reveal the artistic intentions and the ideals of the master-sculptors. All Egyptian sculpture, both statues and reliefs, served a purpose which to the Egyptian mind was per¬ fectly practical —one may say, utilitarian. The whole race believed in a life after death, a ghostly duplicate of life on earth, but with added necessities and dangers. The statues were intended to be exact facsimiles of the man to furnish an abode for the soul. The reliefs were intended to provide his soul with spirit-food, spirit- drink, and spirit-clothing. Consequently, the whole sculpture is pervaded by an exact, painstaking realism. This realism, commanding the wonderful technical skill of the Egyptians, produced the exquisitely modelled portraits now in our collection; but, on the other hand, hampered by the crudeness of the Egyptian sense of color, the same realism demanded that this fine model¬ ling should be covered with simple, conventional colors. When finished so as to fulfill the desired practical magical purpose, both statues and reliefs presented a crude, gaudily-colored aspect which robbed them of much of the beauty which the uncolored stone now has for modern eyes. OLD EMPIRE 19 Upper part of Slate Group : My ceriums and His Queen Dynasty 1V The slate pair, representing Myeerinus and the Queen, is the finest example of Egyptian portraiture in the Museum. In all the world, it is rivalled only 20 EGYPTIAN ART by the diorite statue of Chephren in the Cairo Museum. The face of the king alone has received the final polish¬ ing and the coat of color of which traces may still be seen, especially about the ears. The rest of the two figures is more or less unfinished, in spite of the fact that the modelling appears so perfect. The royal uraeus on the forehead of the king is wanting, yet the personal qualities of the face are sufficient to convey a strong impression of royal dignity and consciousness of power. The queen’s face is of rare womanly loveliness. We are, undoubtedly, looking at the living faces of a royal pair, The Slate Group as Found OLD EMPIRE 21 Seated Statuette of Meryt-Aket-Nesut, Superintendent of the Royal Gardens. Dynasty V. From Giza A portion of the mastaba in which this statue was found, consisting of a wall of the outer chamber with the doorway to the inner chamber, is installed behind it in the gallery. 22 EGYPTIAN ART Head of Alabaster Statue of My ceriums Dy vasty IV The large alabaster statue of Myeerinus is in a frag¬ mentary condition; but the remarkable workmanship of the parts preserved stamps it as the greatest known masterpiece of Egyptian sculpture. It was completely finished, but fortunately the traces of the black beard and hair are all that remain of the coloring. The modelling of the knees is anatomically perfect. The face presents a version of the Myeerinus face, slightly different from that of the slate pair. It is either the work of a different artist or the face of Myeerinus at another period in his life. There are also two versions of the Chephren portrait with a similar difference. This statue was worked from a single block of alabaster taken from the Hat-nub quarry. OLD EMPIRE 23 A labaster; Head of Shep-ses-kaf Dynasty 1V The head of the crown prince, showing the soft im¬ mature features of a boy, is fully equal in its exquisite modelling to any of our great masterpieces. The face is singularly like that of Mycerinus, and might even be taken for a portrait of the youthful Mycerinus. But the custom of placing statues of the sons, especially of the crown princes, in the tombs of their fathers is well known; and it is therefore more probable that this head is from a statue of the crown prince Shep-ses-kaf, the successor of Mycerinus- 24 EGYPTIAN ART Unfinished Statuettes of My cerinus Dynasty IV When Mycerinus died, the Third Pyramid, the tem¬ ples, many of the statues, and the stone vessels were unfinished. Shep-ses-kaf, young, harassed by rivals and anxious about his own tomb, completed hastily the pyramid of his father, and placed the statues as they were in the temples. Thus we have a series of un¬ finished statuettes of Mycerinus showing us six stages in the carving of a statue. The rough blocking has manifestly been done by sawing, bruising, and rubbing. The artist lias marked the statues at each stage with red lines to guide the workman. The later stages have been worked mainly by rubbing. The fifth stage shows a Avell-modelled portrait of the king lacking only the final polish. The slate triad opposite is not a relief, but a triple statue supported by a heavy slab, a device used freely in all periods of Egyptian sculpture to prevent frac¬ tures. The group represents Mycerinus, Hathor, Mistress of the Sycamore Tree, and the Hare nome. The inscription before the nome figure says: ‘ I have given thee all good offerings of the South forever.” That is, this triad was the equivalent of the figures OLD EMPIRE 25 Slate Triad Nome-Goddess, Hathor, and Mycerinus Dynasty 1V bearing offerings found on the tomb-reliefs of princes, — figures which are often labelled thus each with the name of a district. Originally there must have been forty-two of these triads, one for each of the forty- two nomes. Four intact triads were found, all of Upper 26 EGYPTIAN ART Portrait Head of Nofer Dynasty IV Egyptian nomes, and fragments of many others of the same material and about the same size. Alabaster frag¬ ments were also found, and it may be that the Lower Egyptian nomes were represented by alabaster triads. In Egypt the greatest artisans were attached to the service of the royal family, and the main line of artistic development is always found in the work done for the monarch. Yet all work follows as closely as possible the technique and forms of the royal art. It is of interest, therefore, to have the portrait head of the Treasurer of the two Magazines of Silver,” Nofer, of Dynasty IV, as an example of the better private art of that period. This head was found in the burial- chamber of the mastaba in whose offering-chamber we found the relief of Nofer reproduced on the opposite OLD EMPIRE 27 page. Heads of this type were intended to be used as magical substitutes for the real head in case the latter was damaged. The purpose of the head required, therefore, that it should be an exact portrait; and the strong, bony features here represented carry conviction of their truthfulness. The head seems to be rather rough in workmanship, but it had probably been finished with plaster, traces of which are still visible. Portrait of Nofer in relief Dynasty 1V 28 EGYPTIAN ART Relief-work reached its culmination in Dynasty V, and examples of Dynasty IV relief are uncommon. The earlier reliefs are very low and delicate, while those of Dynasty V project distinctly above the back¬ ground and are boldly modelled. The block of white limestone with the figure of the Treasurer Nofer, an offering' inscription, and the figures of four of his scribes, is not only a typical late Dynasty IV work, but it also affords one of the proven cases of portraiture in relief. The striking facial characteristics of the magic head of Nofer as seen in profile are reproduced beyond dispute in the profile relief on the slab. The fourth scribe represented is Sennuwka, probably the same man whose offering-chamber is reproduced in the next illustration. OLD EMPIRE 29 Relief from Tomb of SennuwJca Dynasty V The mastaba of Nofer occupied a site in the royal cemetery. Behind it, in one of the open spaces of the cemetery, a tomb of Dynasty V had been built for a mayor of the City of the Pyramid : Glory of Cheops, ’ ’ Sennuwka. The northern false door in the west wall of the offering-chamber of this mastaba is here repro¬ duced. The reliefs were never entirely finished, and show clearly (on the right) the preliminary outline drawing in black, the chiselling away of the back¬ ground, and the rubbing of the reliefs. The lines do 30 EGYPTIAN ART not show which were used in carrying out the canon of proportions, yet it must be assumed that the same canon was followed as in other Dynasty V reliefs in this cem¬ etery. A vertical line was drawn for each human figure, and dots were placed at fixed distances on this line to mark the knees, the waist, the navel, the breast, the neck, and other parts. Through these dots cross lines were drawn and dotted to mark the lateral measure¬ ments. A comparison of the various known prelimi¬ nary drawings shows that the human standing figure, from the top of the forehead, excluding the crown of the head, to the soles of the feet, was divided into six spaces, each equal to the length of the foot. This same canon, later with eighteen divisions instead of six, was used throughout the course of Egyptian history. The reliefs were finally colored as in the mastabas in the middle of the hall. The Mayor Sennuwka is no doubt the same man as the fourth scribe of the Nofer relief, but advanced in office after perhaps thirty years of public service. OLD EMPIRE Scene on Mastaba Wall Dynasty V The name “mastaba” is a modern Arabic word designating the low adobe bench used in the houses of the peasants. It was first applied by Mariette’s workmen to designate the superstructures of the Old Empire tombs, rectangular masses with flat top and sloping sides, and has been adopted by Europeans as a techni¬ cal term for such tombs. The mastaba tomb has many different forms, but all present the same func¬ tional parts: (l) a burial-chamber underground for the protection of the burial, reached by a stair, a sloping shaft or a vertical shaft, and closed forever after the burial; (2) a superstructure containing an 32 EGYPTIAN ART offering-place, a meeting place for the living with the dead. As these parts were functional, they varied in form with the growth of the knowledge of ma¬ sonry ; and the mastabas from Dynasties I to VI reproduce exactly the history of Egyptian architec¬ ture. During this whole period, the mastabas, like the pyramids, are orientated parallel to the valley, with the offering-chamber on the valley side on the southern end of the superstructure opposite the burial- place. In other words, the mastabas on the east bank face west and those on the west bank face east, that is, they face the offering-bearers coming up from the valley. The offering-chamber, or chapel, was first built inside the superstructure in the reign of Chephren. The form of interior chapel used during Dynasty V is that shown by the two mastaba chambers from Saqqarah. Hidden in the filling of the mastaba, adjacent to the offering-room, was a second chamber for the statues of the dead and his family. This statue chamber, called a serdab,” was sealed up but connected by a small slit with the offering-chamber. The statues faced this slit, which was intended either to allow the spirit of the offering to penetrate to the soul in the statues or to allow the spirit of the dead to visit the statues. The offering-chamber usually has one or two sym¬ bolic doors, false doors,” on the side towards the burial-chamber, which in the earliest known forms are copies of the wood-roofed mud-brick doorways of the Early Dynastic period. The round bar at the top of the stone niche is a representation of the first log of the roof over the doorway. It is this symbolic door, first built of mud-brick, then of stones, and later of a single slab, as in our mastabas, which finally degenerated into the simple grave stone, or funerary stele. The sym¬ bolic door bears on the sides the name and titles of the deceased with an offering formula. Above he is OLD EMPIRE 33 represented seated at a table of offerings. Sometimes the middle panel is carved to represent a wooden door, and in one or two cases the deceased is shown in the act of coming out; for it was through this door that the spirit was supposed to pass to and fro between the grave and the world of the living; and a series of magical texts to assist him in this act are known, called ‘ texts for coming forth by day.” This is, in fact, the title of the so-called Book of the Dead.” The other reliefs on the walls of the offering-chamber were supposed in some way to provide the spirit with the enjoyment of the earthly scenes there depicted — sowing, reaping, inspecting the cattle, sacrifice, and feasting. The magical value of these scenes depended on their realism, and in spite of all their technical deficiencies, these Egyptian scenes are plausible and lifelike. Nor, as is often stated, did the sculptor hesitate to depict mov¬ ing figures, such as the man running with two heavy pails of live fish in the top row of the papyrus swamp scene, and the flying birds in the same scene. Yet there is no true perspective, and the difficulties of the side view of human figures were never overcome. The coloring of these reliefs is partly preserved and shows the conventional scheme of red, black, white, blue, green, and yellow, universally used in Egypt. Shades are practically unknown, and the painting without relief is flat. One may almost say that the painting is merely colored drawing, owing its whole charm to the clear, graceful outlines. The colored drawings, if one may be allowed the term, are earlier than the colored reliefs, and the uncolored drawings are still earlier, so that it may be said that the colored reliefs are an advanced form of colored draw¬ ings, an almost unconscious attempt to gain plasticity. Probably the Egyptian artist strove for his effects in a practical rule-of-thumb manner, without much theo¬ rizing; but, as a matter of fact, his relief-work was 34 EGYPTIAN ART an accessory to the painted drawings. It gave a plas¬ ticity which his crude sense of color could never attain, and produced the similitude of life which was the aim of all his efforts. The variations in the workmanship of some parts of these mastahas are largely due to the different kinds of stone used. The soft, yellow limestone and the brittle nummelitic limestone are from the local quarries. Unsuitable to hue work, they received a plaster dressing which has largely disappeared, carrying with it the finer details. The best preserved parts are those un¬ dressed reliefs carved on the fine white limestone slabs quarried across the river at Turah. As is usual in such large pieces of Egyptian work, some parts have been reworked and some were never finished. The offering-chambers, no matter how elaborate their reliefs, were dark, narrow cells lighted dimly by one or two slit windows. On the set feast days the rela¬ tions of the dead came with their offerings of food, which they placed before the false door. Offering formulas were recited to secure the use of the food to the spirit of the dead. The offering finished, the visitors went away, locking the wooden door and leaving the room silent and deserted until the next feast day. Figures at Base of Stele Dynasty V MIDDLE EMPIRE 35 The most striking archi¬ tectural features of the great Egyptian temples are the colonnaded courts and the halls of columns. The stone architecture of Egypt was a secondary development. The mud-brick architecture with wooden accessories was fully developed—masonry, arches, columns—during the first two dynasties, and this mud-brick architecture was transposed into stone during the third, fourth, and fifth dynasties. Thus, most of the forms and de¬ tails of the stone archi¬ tecture are imitations of the older mud-brick archi¬ tecture. It is therefore no accident that stone col¬ umns imitate the palm logs and the mud-smeared bun¬ dles of plant stems used as roof supports in the earlier days. The bundle-columns represent bundles of nym- Papyrus Bundle-Column Dynasty XII stems. The capitals are formed to represent buds or flowers — usually designated 4 closed” or 44 open cap¬ itals.” The papyrus column with open capital is often called by mistake a lotus capital. 1 phaea caerulea stems, nym- phaea lotus (not the Indian lotus) stems, and papyrus 1 A full exposition of the types of columns may be found in Borchardt’s “ Pflanzensaule.” 36 EGYPTIAN ART Statue of an Egyptian Lady Named Sennuwy Middle Empire. From Kerma This important statue fills a gap in the collection, which hitherto had no representative examples ot Middle Empire sculpture. MIDDLE EMPIRE 37 Statuette Dynasty XI Dynasty XI Statuette The colored wooden figures represent a phase of the private art of Egypt, which is of archaeological rather than of artistic interest. During the decline in pros¬ perity, following the extravagance of the pyramid age, the great mastaba tomb gave place to the simple rock- cut tomb. The functions of the reliefs and of the statues were assumed by a simple stele and by small wooden models and figures placed in the burial-chamber. These figures, seldom more than mediocre in execu¬ tion, are usually crude and merely conventional repre¬ sentations. The figures shown above are both from the early Middle Empire cemetery at Assiut. One is a woman bringing offerings, the other is an attempted portrait of a priest. 38 EGYPTIAN ART Scarabs Top row, left to right: faience scarab of Dynasty XVIII, showing typical scroll work; scarab with name of Horus ; large pottery scarab of Usertesen III; Dynasty XVIII scarab with cartouche of Thothmes III on the Bark of the sun; scarab of Amenhotep II. Middle row: basalt heart-scarab ' ’; large royal scarab of Amenhotep III, struck as a commemorative token of his having killed one hundred and two lions in the first ten years of his reign (there is another example in the British Museum); serpentine heart scarab, finely cut, but uninscribed. Bottom: late (Ptolemaic) faience pectoral, or scarab which was placed on the breast of the mummy. NEW EMPIRE 39 Portrait Head Dynasty XVIII The head shown above is from a squatting private statue of the New Empire similar to that discussed on page 41. The limestone is worked to a fine smooth surface. The head was colored as usual, and traces of the color may still be seen on its lips. The date is determined solely by the style of the headdress. 40 EGYPTIAN ART Royal Portrait Dynasty XIX The small syenite head shown above is a royal por¬ trait of the New Empire, apparently representing Ramses II. It is to be compared with the head of the large granite statue of Ramses on page 42, and is another illustration of the persistence of the forms and technique of the earlier sculpture. Originally this head was colored according to the fixed convention. NEW EMPIRE 41 The squatting statue of Pa-ra-hotep, of gray granite, is a typical example of New Empire sculpture. The technique, and even the form, is that of the earlier work. The difference lies simply in the dress. The men of the New Empire wore a longer garment and dressed their wigs in a slightly different manner. It must not be forgotten that all these statues are mere portraits intended to reproduce the outward form of the man, and all show the stiff, dignified, but expres¬ sionless attitude of the Oriental when posing for a Statue of Par-ra-hotep Dynasty XIX 42 EGYPTIAN ART portrait. The Egyp¬ tian artist represents character only by ac¬ cident, and never had occasion to attempt the expression of fear, hate, love, or other emotions. The New Empire, the period of the greatest prosperity in the whole history of Egypt, owed the greater part of its wealth to the looting of Asia and the Sou¬ dan. The founders of Dynasty XVIII were princes of Thebes, and when they drove out the Hyksos and assumed the kingship over Egypt they as- Seated Granite Statue of Ramses II cribed their success to Dynasty XIX their local god Amon, and poured their foreign plunder into the treasury of his priesthood. Great temples were built all over Egypt. The Amon-Re priesthood became the most desirable career in Egypt, and Amon-Re became the national god of Egypt. When Rainses II came to the throne the Egyptians had been open to the influence of Asia for more than three centuries. The land was filled with foreign cap¬ tives, the gardens boasted of outlandish plants and animals, the palaces held the finest products of Asiatic art, and the market places offered all the wares of the near East for sale. Yet the effect on Egyptian art is NEW EMPIRE 43 surprisingly small. New subject-matter crops out; a few new compositions, mainly battle scenes, appear in the reliefs; but in general Egyptian art remains what it was • • the same in technique, practical and realistic. When the subject-matter is ceremonial, as in this statue of Ramses II, the production shows all the character¬ istics of the Old Empire. Here is a king in the tra¬ ditional insignia of the monarchy, as he appeared at great court ceremonies. The attitude is almost iden¬ tical with that of the Mycerinus statues, and the method of working was the same. Fifteen hundred years had passed by. Egypt had learned the ways of all Western Asia, but the art of the Old Empire still ruled, the greatest of all in that time. This statue of Ramses II and most of the art of his time is, however, slightly lacking. There is size; there is an enormous number of statues, reliefs, and temples; but there are also signs of haste, of carelessness. Quality is being sacrificed to quantity. The priest¬ hood of Amon-Re is growing in numbers and in power. For much of the surplus wealth is being absorbed by this avaricious organization. In the preceding century, Akhenaton had made his fight to break the priesthood, but his successors had lost all that he had gained. From this time forth the division of power and wealth was inimical to the production of great finished pieces of work, and Egyptian art steadily declined down to the revival of Psammetic I. 44 EGYPTIAN ART Relief New Empire The relief portrait of a New Empire king shown above is a beautiful example of the best work ot that period, hardly inferior to the Old Empire work. This is called a sunk-relief; that is, the background has not been cut away, as in the ordinary reliefs. Otherwise the technique is the same. Sunk-reliefs cost less labor and are especially common in the latter part of the New Empire. NEW EMPIRE 45 The face in the relief bears the characteristics of the Theban royal family,— the almond-shaped eye drawn down at the inner corner, the thin nose with rounded tip, and the fine mouth. The type may still be seen among the people of Upper Egypt. On the head is the royal war-helmet with the uraeus. Support for a Chair in the Form of a Panther Dynasty X Fill However much they conventionalized the human form, the Egyptians treated animals with fidelity to nature, as may be seen from the panther shown above. It is of wood, coated with bitumen. The panther’s stealthy stride is well caught, and the blunt head is admirably modelled. The piece was one of a pair supporting a seat or throne. The apparent symbolism is ancient and is to be contrasted with the use of figures of prisoners for the same purpose. 46 EGYPTIAN ART Wooden Panel, Thothmes IV Dynasty Will The wooden panel is likewise from a piece of furni¬ ture, and bears a symbolic decoration,— Thothmes IV as a sphinx trampling the foreign nations. In the case of chariots, thrones, mirrors, spoons, weapons, and almost all objects, the ornamentation was symbolic or magical in character. Images and figures of deities and divine animals were freely used, each appropriate to its object,— the ugly god of the toilet on cosmetic boxes, the scarabaeus on seals, hunting scenes on weapons, and battle scenes on chariots. From the earliest predynastic period. figures of sacred animals were carved on the slate paint palettes and had a magical protective force. In later times the use ot hieroglyphic writing gave a special significance to almost every object, to every element used in orna¬ mentation. Thus the papyrus stem with open flower, often called a lotus by mistake, has the meaning “ to be green,” l< to be flourishing.” It is ot interest to note that Thothmes IV is the prince named in the granite stele at the breast of the Great Sphinx as the NEW EMPIRE 47 One who cleared the Great Sphinx of sand and reestab¬ lished its offerings. The workmanship of the panel shows the soft finish of the best work of the New Empire. Faience Six Foreign Captives New Empire The six faience plates, representing foreign captives,, are wonderful examples of Egyptian handicraft. The ability to see and to copy things as they are has pro¬ duced in these colored glazes the negro (first and fifth from the left) and the Arab (fourth), just as we see them to-day, though in a different dress. The others, the Philistian (third), the Asiatic, possibly the ■Libyan., must be equally true to life, just as they appeared disembarking in bonds from the Egyptian war-galleys at Thebes. The plates themselves were inlays, probably from some piece of royal furniture, and are another example of the symbolic ornamentation mentioned above. 48 EGYPTIAN ART Faience Inlay New Empire This beautiful head is merely an inlay piece from the symbolic ornamentation of some object. The wig is of glazed pottery and the face of glass paste. The features are distinctly those of the royal Theban family of the New Empire, as may be seen by comparing it with the relief on page 44. This piece, together with the figures of captives, is said to have come from the palace of Ramses III at Medinet-Habu, opposite Thebes. NEW EMPIRE 49 This great royal scarab comes from Dynasty XIX, and bears two of the names of Seti I, alternately re¬ peated. The work¬ manship, size, and condition of the specimen make it the finest example of its class in exist¬ ence. It is made with a greenish- blue glaze, laid on rather thinly. The face shows traces of gold leaf, which indicate that at one time the whole face of the scarab was gilded, while the specimen is bound with strips of pale gold, to which a ring for suspension is attached in front. The modelling of the beetle is particularly lifelike and free from convention, as may be seen from the second cut, in which the same scarab is shown in pro¬ file. Face of Large Scarab EGYPTIAN ART Gold was one of the first metals worked by the predynastic Egyptians and was always a favorite for amulets, charms, and ornaments. It is even possible that copper was discovered in some attempt at extracting gold from copper ore. In the archives of Amen- ophis IV, at Tell Amarna, a number of letters in cuneiform script were found in which the kings of Babylon beg Amenophis for gold, saying: Gold is as dust in the street in the land of our brother.” The chief mines, now ex¬ hausted, were in Wady Alaqi, in the eastern desert, where the ancient work- ,statuette of jngs, the crucibles, and smelters may e>s still be seen. >1/nasty . - The gold statuette of the god Hershef, found at Hierakleopolis, is a rare and beautiful example of goldsmith’s work. It is from Dynasty XXIII and bears a votive inscription in minute hieroglyphics on the base. Gold Pectoral Ornament The statuette above is an example of carved gold work; the amulet in the form of a ba-bird, or soul in the form of a bird, is an example of the more usual beaten gold work. NEW EMPIRE Cut Skin Garment Dynasty XV1I1 Did no other monument of Egyptian antiquity re¬ main to us than the cut gazelle-skin garment shown in the above plate, both the industry and the skill of the artisans would be convincingly attested. The piece, which is only half of the complete garment, was found with a similar one in the tomb of Maiherpri, a prince of Dynasty XVIII, and a cup-bearer of Thothmes IV (1436-1427 B. C.). The meshes are made entirely Dy cutting slits in the skin, and then stretching it laterally. At the shoulders, where seams are visible across the borders, are two piecings, the meshes being tied with microscopic knots. 52 EGYPTIAN ART Portrait. Ptolemaic (?) Profile of the Same The last great period of Egyptian art began about 700 B. C. After the time of Ramses III (about 1200 B. C.), the power of the monarchy was gradually usurped by the high priest of Amon-Ra. These avari¬ cious and unwarlike theocrats abandoned the foreign possessions and utilized Libyan mercenaries to hold the Egyptian provinces in subjection. First the Libyans wrested the throne from their employers and fell them¬ selves before the rising power of the Aethiopian kings. Then the Assyrians, enjoying the profits of the con¬ quest of Western Asia, drove out the Aethiopians and held Lower Egypt as a province. In 663 B. C., at a moment when the Assyrians were preoccupied by in¬ ternal trouble, a certain prince of Sais using Greek mercenaries established himself as king of all Egypt under the name of Psammetic, the first of that name. During the long period of foreign domination, the national consciousness appears to have been awakened. The Egyptians, surrounded by the monuments of their ancient greatness, remembered and attempted to revivify the past. Priests were appointed to renew the funerary PTOLEMAIC 53 services of Cheops and Chephren. Old texts, some¬ times only half understood, were copied, and many a a word is found resuscitated after centuries of disuse. Monuments of the Old Empire were taken as models of the best in art. The forms were copied with a finish which rivalled the best Egyptian work. This is the dominating quality of the Saite art — it is the imi¬ tation of the forms of a sincere, realistic, older art carried out with the old technical skill. A certain idealism is thus brought in — a belief in qualities no longer seen in actual life. For all ceremonial works, where the reliance on antiquity was greatest, there is a delicacy of treatment, a softness of outline which seems to indicate some measure of aesthetic feeling. But in some cases, such as this portrait of the priest in Portrait of a Priest Saite hard green stone, the old demand for realism still per¬ sisted and was obeyed with all the old fidelity to truth. Just as in the days of Mycerinus, a form of the earthly man in imperishable stone was needed for the use of his ka or soul, and just as the ancient artist reproduced the bulging eyes and puffy cheeks of the builder of the Third Pyramid, so the Saite artist, equally un¬ afraid, portrays the defects and the cruel lines of the crafty priest of his day. 54 EGYPTIAN ART Mummy Portrait Painted in Wax on Wood First or Second Century A.D. From a burying-ground at El-Rubayat, in the Prov¬ ince of Fayum, this portrait is a specimen of the en¬ caustic paintings on thin panels of wood which in the Graeco-Roman period were substituted for the plastic representations of the face of the dead used on mummies of earlier times. The panel was laid over the face of the mummy, and the outer bandages were wrapped about it so as to cover its margin. Fragments of the cloth still adhere to the present portrait. ROMAN, COPTIC 55 Coptic Class Roman and Byzantine Periods Glass-making in Egypt goes back perhaps to the Middle Empire. The early vessels are all opaque and variegated in color, and seem to have been made on a core which was afterwards broken up and shaken out. Colored glass pastes were also used for beads, inlays, and grinding blue and green colors; but clear glass seems to have been entirely a foreign invention, ap¬ pearing first in Ptolemaic-Roman times. The pieces shown are from Coptic times and show many forms found in Syria in the same period. 56 SEMITIC ART Relief of King Assur-nazir-pal The figure of a winged god, a relief from the palace of Assur-nazir-pal (about 889-859 B. C. ) is a charac¬ teristic example of formal Assyrian sculpture, though by no means of the best. It shows the same practical magical purpose revealed so universally by the Egyp¬ tian reliefs. The eye is full, as in Egypt; but some SEMITIC ART 57 of the difficulties of the profile view — the feet, the shoulders — have been more or less successfully han¬ dled. Yet the heavy outlines, the crude modelling, and the lifeless conventions deprive the whole of grace or even plausibility. In the fourth millennium before Christ the primitive productions of the two civiliza¬ tions, Egypt and Babylonia, show almost equal tech¬ nical skill. Both nations* had a similar economic development in a rich agricultural valley. In both cases the art developed as much in the service of magic and religion as in that of the needs of daily life. Even the materials available for architecture and sculp¬ ture were not very different. Finally, both races were largely Semitic in origin and lived in contact with each other from 1500 B. C. to long after the period of Assur-nazir-pal. Yet Egyptian art, sincere and cer¬ tain in its truth, has left a series of great masterpieces, while Babylonian art has only succeeded in arousing curiosity and archaeological interest. CLASSICAL ART FINDING LIST Page Gallery 66 Classical Corridor 67-78 . . . . Archaic 79-85 . . . . Fifth Century 86 (upper) . . . Classical Corridor 86 (lower) . . . Graeco-Roman 87-94 Fifth Century 95-97 . . . Fourth Century 98-100 . . . . Graeco-Roman 101 . . . . Late Greek 102-108 . . . . Fourth Century 109 . . . . Late Greek no . . . Graeco-Roman 111-119 . Late Greek 120 Graeco-Roman 121 Graeco-Roman Court (Ground Floor) 122 . . Vase Rooms (Ground Floor) 125// . Fifth Century The exhibitions of Coins are changed from time to time. ROTUNDA CLASSICAL ART S INCE the time of the Italian Renaissance, when men turned to the remains of antiquity with the enthusiasm of discovery, classical art has held the same high position as has been accorded to classical literature. The best examples of Greek art, however, waited much longer for recognition and appreciation than the masterpieces of Greek poetry. The sculptures with which princely and ecclesiastical dilettanti of Italy adorned their palaces and gardens were usually Roman imitations of Greek works, suggesting in only a limited measure the significance and vitality of the originals. The opening of the nearer East to archaeological explora¬ tion has restored to the modern world priceless examples of original Greek work, representing the ideas and the tech¬ nical achievement of many generations, and has enabled students of antiquity to attain a truer view than ever before of the essential qualities of ancient art. They have learned, for instance, that in real Greek sculpture beauty does not imply monotonous smoothness of form or coldness of ex¬ pression ; that dignity and repose are not inconsistent with thorough animation. They have learned not only to admire and enjoy the art of the “classical” period in the more restricted sense of the word, but to accept with sym¬ pathy and pleasure the work of earlier artists, whose struggle with conventions and technical difficulties makes only the more effective the sincerity of their effort for vigor¬ ous expression of ideas about gods and men ; while the dis¬ covery of important sculptures of the Hellenistic period has revealed in late Greek art an individualism and a dramatic power which are sometimes supposed to be exclusively modern. 62 CLASSICAL ART I. Prehistoric Art of Greece, 3000-1000 B. C. In its period of highest development and of decline the pre¬ historic art of Greece is generally called “Mycenaean,” because it first became widely known through the excava¬ tion of Mycenae. The civilization which produced it probably centred originally in the island of Crete, whose position and resources brought its early population the power and wealtli that are echoed in the tradition of Minos, King of Cnossos. The art of these people shows at its best an admirable skill in decorative design and a freedom of style approaching naturalism, even though its method is far from exact representation. It reflects no ideas of pro¬ found interest, but phenomena of marine, animal, and even human life are presented vividly and freshly. The work of this period is exemplified in the Museum by an ivory statuette (p. 67), by a series of vases in stone and pottery, and by a few seal-stones. II. Archaic Greek Art, 1000-500 B. C. The long de¬ cline of Mycenaean art, due to political and social changes which accompanied the shifting of population in Greece about 1000 B. C., was succeeded by the development of the art of the historic Greek people. In the plastic and graphic arts their earliest efforts embody but inadequately the wealth of interesting ideas, of which there is such abundant evidence in the contemporary Homeric poems; they had to learn not only the mastery of tools and mate¬ rials, but certain elementary lessons in the “grammar of art,” in which the older Oriental peoples were their teachers. The pottery of Corinth and Rhodes shows the strong influence which Eastern art exerted on early Greek work in the seventh century B. C. Oriental motives and methods became, however, only the stepping-stones to original expression; the Greek did not lose his inde¬ pendence of vision and feeling, and the characteristic humanism of Greek art is already manifest in the work of the sixth century B. C., though it finds expression chiefly in INTRODUCTION 63 works controlled by religious motives — statues of gods, ideal statues of athletes commemorating victories in re¬ ligious games, and other sculptures dedicated to deities. Within the limits of certain accepted conventions, the later archaic sculptures show a marked individuality of style. In this Museum the period is illustrated not only by some interesting sculptures (pp. 68~71, 79), but by bronze statuettes (pp. 71, 72, 73), by coins issued by many Greek cities in the sixth century (p. 126), and by painted vases on which the subjects, and in some degree the qualities, of archaic frescoes are imitated (pp. 76 and 77 ). III. The Fifth Century, 500-400 B. C. During the years in which the Greek states were rising to their highest military and political power, the technical prog¬ ress of the arts continued, and the conventions of the archaic period gradually gave place to a free style. The period of transition (480-450 B. C.) is represented in this collection by one of the finest of the few extant originals (pp. 80 _ 83). Adequate representation of the human form in every variety of attitude or action was specially sought; but this representation was not literal or even individual; it reflected the idea of a type. In its most characteristic achievement, such as the sculp¬ tures of the Parthenon, the art of the fifth century may be called social and civic in its motive. It embodies more completely than any other the Hellenic ideal of proportion, sanity, and self-command. The Museum possesses very few sculptures of this date (p. 85), but the qualities suggested above may be studied and enjoyed in the collections of smaller objects; for in¬ stance, the beautiful coins of Sicily and Southern Italy (pp. 126, 128, 130), the vases decorated by Athenian painters of the fifth century (pp. 89-93), and some unique examples of gold jewelry (p. 88). 64 CLASSICAL ART IV. The Fourth Century, 400-300 B. C., was an age in which the older influences of religion and the state waned, and individualism came to dominate Greek thought and action. Artists now more clearly distin¬ guished individual character, and applied their newly attained skill to the portrayal of emotional states, even of transitory feeling. The head of Aphrodite (p. 97) in the Bartlett Collection in this Museum, though thor¬ oughly ideal in its beauty, has a more particularized character and is more directly expressive of emotion than sculptures of the fifth century. Several other original marbles of the fourth century contribute much to the value of the collection of classical sculpture in the M useum. The head of a goddess from Chios (p. 99), a fragment of a group representing an Amazon on horse¬ back and a fallen opponent (p. 95), and a small figure of a mourning Siren (p. 102), deserve special mention. Attention should be given to the metal work of this time, illustrated by the graceful groups on bronze mirror cases shown in the Fourth Century Room (p. 106). V. The Hellenistic Period, 300-100 B. C., dated ap¬ proximately from the reign of Alexander to the estab¬ lishment of Roman power in Greece, shows a further development of tendencies already manifest in the fourth century. Individualism led to the growth of vigorous portraiture, exemplified by some of the best sculptures in this Museum (pp. 101 and 109). Ancient myths, no longer matters of sincere belief, were treated in a highly dramatic and picturesque style. Appreciation of tlie charm of genre types and scenes is shown in the attractive terra-cottas of Tanagra (pp. 107 and 108). VI. Graeco-Roman Art, 100 B. C. _ 200 A. D. The strongly realistic style of Hellenistic portraiture was in harmony with the literalism of the Roman mind, and the Roman period is marked by a long series of excellent INTRODUCTION 6 5 portraits, not only in large sculpture (pp. Ill and 120), but on coins and gems. The decay of original inspiration in the arts is signalized by the attempt to revive older styles, as seen in the so-called archaistic ” sculptures of Roman date, and by the more or less mechanical imitation which produced many copies of famous statues of the fifth and fourth centuries. Most of the extant ancient mosaics and wall paintings are of this period. They teach us something of the technique of the graphic arts of antiquity, but they do not justify inferences regarding the quality of the best classical pictures. The arts of luxury and of personal adornment, encour¬ aged by the society of Imperial Rome, are illustrated in some unusually fine cameos (p. 119) which have come to this Museum from two famous European collections. The following books are recommended as interesting intro¬ ductions to a knowledge and appreciation of Greek Art: P. Gardner, Principles of Greek Art; F. B. Tarbell. A History of Greek Art; E. Gardner, Handbook of Greek Sculpture; Fowler and Wheeler, Handbook of Greek Archaeology. Sup¬ plementary information on Greek history, religion, and private antiquities is given in convenient form by L. Whibley (ed.), Companion to Greek Studies. These books, and many detailed studies of the several departments of ancient art, as well as books of reference and important periodicals devoted to clas¬ sical art and archaeology, are to be found in the Library of the Museum. ' A large collection of photographs of classical sculpture, including the Brunn-Bruckmann series, is also in the Library. The Museum publishes a special catalogue of its collection of casts of Greek and Roman sculpture. 66 CLASSICAL ART Cybele Marble , about 300 B. C. This colossal statue is probably to be identified as Cybele> the Mother of the Gods. Traces of the throne or seat, which was not made in one piece with the statue itself, are seen beneath the left arm. The folds of the drapery are arranged in a harmonious composition which is not lost in elaboration of detail. ARCHAIC ROOM 67 Statuette of the Cretan Snake Goddess Ivory and Gold; Sixteenth Century B.C. Example? of sculpture on a large scale are hardly to be found among the relics of Minoan art, but frescoes, statuettes, and small reliefs show that the Cretan artists could impart to their representations of the human form the same vigorous life which pervades their decorative designs. In this statuette the proud pose, the keen expression of the face, and the set of the tense, sinewy, yet graceful arm compel admiration no less than the technical skill with which the gold trimmings were applied to the elaborate Minoan dress. 68 CLASSICAL ART This figure was doubtless conceived as the guardian of the tomb over which it was erected as a monument. The combination of the front view of the head with the side view of the body and the symmetrical arrange¬ ment of the locks of the mane are characteristic of the archaic style which sought striking decorative compo¬ sition rather than natural representation. It may be supposed that the sculptor knew lions only as they were depicted in Oriental art. IAon Limestone, Sixth Century B. C. ARCHAIC ROOM 69 Girl’s Head Limestone » Sixth Century B. C. Among the most interesting and popular of archaic statues are the “Maidens,” found on the Acropolis of Athens thirty years ago. The head from Sicyon, pictured above, has something of their delicacy and charm, although they are of Parian marble and this fragment is of a coarse¬ grained limestone. The tapering face, the crescent smile, and the slanting, narrowed eyes, are characteristic of a time when Ionian ideas controlled the artistic expression of Greece. In this instance the conventional rendering of the hair is unusually attractive. 70 CLASSICAL ART Statue of a Man Limestone, Sixth Century B.C. This figure is a variant from the ‘Apollo type” preva¬ lent in the archaic period. The left leg was probably advanced, and the left arm is held down stiffly at the side, but the right arm was slightly bent and may have held some attribute. The chief interest of the work, however, is in the very characteristic rendering of the head. The carving of the mouth and of the cheeks, fringed by the short beard, gives the face an air of individuality almost suggestive of portraiture. ARCHAIC ROOM 71 The gravestone, figured opposite, was found in the Troad. Such slender stone slabs, often decorated with painting- or low relief and crowned with delicate or¬ nament, were the usual type of grave monument toward the end of the sixth century. Gravestone Sixth Century B. C. Artemis Sixth Century B. C. The small bronzes form an inter¬ esting supplement to the marbles possessed by the Museum, in illus¬ trating the development of plastic art m Greece. An inscription engraved on the figure here shown tells that a cer¬ tain Chimaridas of Elis offered it to Artemis Daedalia. The Doric dress is drawn smoothly around the figure in front in a way which recalls the form of archaic cult images; the statuette is probably an imitation of some earlier statue of the goddess. It has the simple dignity of the careful religious art of the sixth century B. C. 7 2 CLASSICAL ART Athlete Sixth Century B. C. form has been shaped to suggest energy and agile motion. This bronze statuette of an athlete, found at Olympia, recalls the influ¬ ence which the athletic games of early Greece exerted on the art of sculpture. Athletic victories called for commem¬ oration in sculptural monuments, and the artist had full liberty to produce a representation of the entire human figure, a liberty which was not allowed in Oriental art. Moreover, games and athletic practice gave him many opportunities to develop his ideal of manhood. It has been conjectured that this figure is a runner. Like most archaic statues of athletes, he stands erect, facing straight ahead, with both feet planted firmly; but his In the Peloponnesus Hermes was worshipped as the protector of the flocks. The statuette shown here represents the god with a young ram under one arm. He wears a neatly fitting chiton, a round hat, and heavy boots. He carried in his right hand the symbol of his office as herald. The statuette is distinguished by vigorous modelling expressive of sturdy physique, by finish of detail, and by the naive animation of the face. Hermes Sixth Century B. C ARCHAIC ROOM 73 The luxury and the fastidious taste of the Ionian Greeks are reflected in this representation of Aphrodite. She lifts her carefully arranged himation with one hand. The hovering Erotes (Cupids) direct attention to the face of the goddess. They are so placed that the support of the mirror appears to be gradually broadened at the top in order to carry the weight easily. Mirror Stand About 500 B. C. 74 CLASSICAL ART Amphora, Geometric Style About 800 B. C. The extinction of the Mycenaean civilization and the be¬ ginnings of the classical Greek are marked by the rise of a pottery elaborately decorated with geometrical designs. The primitive drawings of horses and men which often found a place among these are illustrated by this colossal vase from Athens. (Compare p. 123 .) ARCHAIC ROOM 75 Greek art of the eighth and seventh centuries is almost wholly imitative of the foreign models brought to Greece by trade with Oriental peoples. The oinochoe, or wine-jug, pictured here is an example of the pottery made on the island of Rhodes at this period. The lowest of the three zones of decoration has a lotus pattern derived from Egyp¬ tian art; the second shows the pursuit of wild goats by a dog, a scene probably borrowed from the Phoenicians; above are represented animals and monsters of Oriental imagination. The figures are painted in black on a ground of buff color; purple is also freely used in the accentuation of some forms; the heads are drawn in outline- Oinochoe Seventh Century B. C. 76 CLASSICAL ART Kylix, Story of Circe Sixth Century B. C. ARCHAIC ROOM 71 The practice of paint¬ ing figures in dark color on a light ground was continued by Greek pot¬ ters until about 500 B. C. Corinthian paint¬ ers were probably the first to indicate details within the figures by lines engraved through the black paint. This method was further de¬ veloped by the Attic vase painters of the sixth century, whose vases, excelling others in beauty of material and Amphora by Amasis shape, and in interest of Sixth Century B. C. color and design, drove the painted pottery of other cities from the market. Oriental decorative motives became in their turn entirely subordinate to human inter¬ est, and scenes from heroic mythology, warfare, and do¬ mestic life constitute the chief ornamentation of the vase. The illustration above pictures an amphora (a two- handled jar) signed by Amasis, who is distinguished among painters of the black-figured style for precision of work¬ manship and a love of the minute detail obtained by in¬ cised lines. On the opposite page is shown a kylix (drinking-cup) whose ornament is an unusual illustration of a famous story in the Odyssey. The enchantress Circe, a nude figure, orig¬ inally colored white, stands near the centre of the picture, holding in her hand a cup containing the magical potion which has half transformed Odysseus’ companions into beasts. At the left Odysseus is coming to the rescue. The generally erect figures, radiating from the stem to the rim of the vase, form an etfective design. 7 8 CLASSICAL ART Imitative modelling in terra-cotta is almost as old as the shaping of terra-cotta vases. Indeed, primi¬ tive vases, being fashioned freely by hand, often take a form rudely resembling the human body. The small terra-cottas which were pro¬ duced in such numbers in prehis¬ toric Greece seem to have served a religious purpose. They generally represent female figures, and were probably dedicated to a nature god- n ' • | .. Wood Carrier Resting dess. Many dedicatory terra-cottas , , • , ‘,’1 . Archaic have been round on such sites as that of the famous temple of Hera at Argos. These early images were hastily made by hand, and often are only caricatures of the human form. From a very early period, Boeotia was a centre of the production and use of terra-cottas. In the archaic period many were made in a flat shape resembling, it seems, board-like images of wood which were regarded as specially sacred repre¬ sentations of deities. They are often decorated with painted geometric patterns. Some equally primitive statuettes of almost cylindrical shape from Cyprus also recall wooden images, whose form, in this instance, was probably only a slight modification of the tree trunk. In the archaic period the art was also applied to genre subjects. The Museum has several interesting terra¬ cotta figures of this character: a barber at work, a woman grating cheese, a wood-carrier resting beside his bundle of fagots (see the cut above), and other homely scenes from the life of ancient Greece. There was no lack of terra-cotta toys: little horsemen on long-necked horses, carts, and even dolls with movable legs and arms. In addition to terra-cotta figurines shown in rooms on the main floor, a supplementary exhibition has been placed in the Terra-cotta Room on the lower floor. FIFTH CENTURY ROOM 79 Mounted Warrior Marble Relief, about BOO B. C. This relief of the late archaic period was, perhaps, part of a monument commemorating a man of equestrian rank. The rider, fully armed with cuirass, greaves, high- crested helmet and sword, sits firmly and guides the spirited horse with steady hand. The motion of the group is signalized by the cloak blown backward in the wind. The horse’s head, which has been broken away, was turned so that it looked out from the relief; this attitude, an unusually bold one in archaic relief, must have added much to the animation of the work. The treatment of the drapery and the fine modelling of the horse’s body suggest that the sculptor was influenced by contemporary Attic art, if not himself an Athenian. 8o CLASSICAL ART Three-sided Marble Relief, Front FIFTH CENTURY ROOM 81 This marble corresponds so closely in material, shape, and style of sculpture with the famous “ Ludovisi Throne” in Rome, 1 that some intimate connection between the two must be assumed. The scene on the front of the relief in Rome probably represents the birth of Aphrodite; the figures on the wings — a nude cour¬ tesan playing the flutes and a matron placing incense on a censer — are best explained as worshippers, typi¬ fying two aspects of the cult. On the front of the relief in Boston a smiling, winged boy is represented weighing two small figures of youths in a pair of scales, the beam of which is now missing. Two seated women are interested spectators: the one to the right bows her head in grief, the other smiles and raises her hand in a gesture of pleased surprise. The single figures on the sides are again probably engaged in acts of worship, and again strongly contrasted : on the right wing a boy seated on a cushion is playing a lyre, on the left an old woman with wrinkled face and short hair sits on the ground with her knees drawn up and grasps a myste¬ rious object which has been mostly chiselled away. The interpretation of the scene on the front remains as yet in doubt; but the central figure is clearly Eros, and the subject represented is probably some myth con¬ nected with Aphrodite,— perhaps, as has been sug¬ gested, the contest between Aphrodite and Persephone for the possession of the beautiful youth, Adonis. The purpose for which the two marbles were made is also unclear. It was formerly supposed that the Ludovisi relief formed the back and arms of a colossal throne for the seated statue of a goddess; but the two reliefs are better explained as parts of one monument, perhaps as ornaments set on the two short ends of a long rectangular altar. The delicately carved volutes 1 Photographs of the monument in Rome are hung below an adjoining window, and casts of the two marbles may be seen in the East Cast Court. 82 CLASSICAL ART Three-sided ReliefWings About 450 B. FIFTH CENTURY ROOM 83 and palmettes at the angles of the marble in Boston were matched on its companion-piece by similar ornaments, made separately and now lost. The sculptures are among the most beautiful and interesting of the transitional ” period of Greek art. The artist has not yet fully mastered the problem of translating the figures into relief. The upper parts of the bodies of the two goddesses are in full front view, while their legs are in profile. Some folds of the gar¬ ments are rendered in the archaic manner, while others show the careful study of actual, accidental folds of cloth. The strong influence of painting is apparent throughout, and the artist evidently depended upon the application of colors to the marble to bring out details such as the lower edges of the wings of Eros and the outlines of the mantles and caps worn by the two goddesses. The strings of the lyre, the fillet of the old woman, and the latchets of the sandals were left to be supplied entirely by paint. The soft, un- athletic treatment of the nude forms, the rich draperies, and the style of the architectural ornaments suggest that the reliefs are the products of an Ionian school of sculpture. Marble Relief in Museo delle Terme, Rome 84 CLASSICAL ART Artemis Marble, Fifth Century B. C. The goddess wears a fillet adorned with simple flowers. She is probably Artemis, one of whose special attributes was a garland of flowers. The head is strained forward a little, with an air of alertness. The finely arched brows contribute to the vivacity of expression which probably was most evident in the eyes. These were of another material colored in imitation of nature. The head has been considered by some scholars an original of the first half of the fifth century B. C.; others regard it as an imitation of work of that date, made in Roman times. It has, at any rate, an animation and a freshness of style not often attained in imitative sculpture, which generally reproduces only the superficial charac¬ teristics of earlier art in rather stilted fashion. FIFTH CENTURY ROOM 85 Grave Monument Fifth Century B. C. The grave monuments of the Greeks were important to them as associated with the rites demanded by natural piety towards the dead. In the fifth and fourth centuries B. C. they often took the form illustrated here — that of a simple portico consisting of a gable supported by pilasters and framing a relief which had reference to the former occupations of the person in whose memory it was erected. On this stone is represented an Attic lady, wearing an Ionian chiton of delicate texture and a himation of heavier material. She looks at her image in a hand mirror similar to some of the Greek bronze mirrors exhibited in the Museum. Like many of the grave-reliefs, it was carved by a sculptor of imperfect skill, but it resembles the others, too, in the simplicity of its motive and in the dignity with which the subject is presented. 86 CLASSICAL ART This fragment is from one of several replicas of a popu¬ lar statue of the fifth cen¬ tury B. C., representing Diomedes carrying the Pal¬ ladium from Troy. A re¬ production of a better preserved copy, now in Munich, may be seen among the casts of Greek sculpture. The head resembles a group of sculptures attributed to Cresilas, a Cretan who re¬ ceived his training in the Athenian school. The square jaw, firm mouth, and level brow portray a stout fighter. Marble, Graeco-Roman Copy Of the great sculptors of the fifth century Polyelei- tus of Argos was the most popular in Roman times, and countless copies and adaptations of his works have survived. This head, perhaps from a statue of H ermes, illustrates the youthful athletic type for which this sculptor was most famed. In the defi¬ nite modelling of the surface and the sharp ren¬ dering of details of the eyes and hair it repro¬ duces, better than most copies in marble, the quality of the bronze original. Head of a Youth Marble, Graeco-Roman Copy FIFTH CENTURY ROOM 87 The pose of the figure illustrated here does not show a radical departure from the traditions of archaic art, yet it is not tense and rigid like that of sixth century statues, and the freedom of the attitude is empha¬ sized by the natural though angular posi¬ tion of the left arm The outlines are true and refined, and though the surface of the body has suf¬ fered by corrosion, the quality of its modelling shows ad¬ vanced understand¬ ing of the subject and skill in represen¬ tation. The statu¬ ette is said to have been found on the site of Croton, a Young Athlete Fifth Century B. C. town in the south of Italy which was famed for the prowess of its athletes. It may be supposed that the artists of this region had every opportunity to study the athletic form, in repose and in action. 88 CLASSICAL ART In this wine pitcher the refinement of taste mani¬ fested by the shape attracts attention first, but the orna¬ ment is also interesting as exemplifying the tendency of Greek art to representa¬ tion, even in decorative design. At the base of the handle is a siren, with wings delicately rendered in a form of Oriental origin. At the upper juncture of the handle with the vase is the bust of a girl clad in a Doric chiton. A serpent Pitcher Fifth Century B. C. is represented on the back of the handle. The technical skill of the Greek goldsmiths is shown in this unique earring. The figures are hollow, and the jewel is of the slightest weight consistent with strength. The details of the chariot are repre¬ sented with great care; the Victory even wears Earring Fifth Century B. C. earrings and bracelets. Her garment is stirred by the wind, and the horses are prancing, yet the com¬ position is balanced and unified. The jewel is almost intact; only the colored enamel which filled the palmette in front of the hook is lost. It is possible that the ear¬ ring belonged to a statue, perhaps one of the gold and ivory statues of the fifth century B. C. FIFTH CENTURY ROOM 8 9 Kylix Fifth Century B. C. The painters found larger scope for their skill in deco¬ rating vases when the colors were reversed, viz. when the background was filled with black paint and the figures were left in the red color of the clay. This method allowed a free drawing of details which took the place of the hard incised lines of the black-figured style. The development of the new technique was accompanied by an extension of the range of subjects. Scenes from the palaestra, in which Athenian athletes practised their games, were much favored. The picture here is from the interior of a kylix. It shows a young athlete running with jumping weights in his hands. The figure occupies the circular space effectively, and is vigorously drawn. In its combina¬ tion of profile and front views it marks a continuance of an archaic mode of representation. 90 CLASSICAL ART Drawing from a Kantharos So few vessels of silver and bronze have survived, in com¬ parison with the many terra-cotta vases which have been recovered from graves in Italy and Greece, that it is easy to forget in what measure the latter are imitations of metal ori¬ ginals, though their imitative character is manifested in the excessively thin ware affected by Attic potters of the best period, in the shapes of their vases, and in the lustrous paint. The cup shown here is obviously modelled after a metal kantharos of exceptionally beautiful, though simple form. The tall handles are thin and flat, like bands of metal. The decoration is in a style worthy of the shape. On one side is represented a nymph fleeing from a god, on the other a man or god in pursuit of a boy who has been playing with hoop and stick. The principal lines of the figures and of the drapery express impetuous movement; the finely crumpled folds of linen are contrasted with the broader folds of the woollen garment. The vigorous style Kantharos Fifth Century B.C. of drawing is found on a number of vases signed by Brygos, and this cup, though unsigned, was certainly decorated by the same master. (Compare p. 124 .^ FIFTH CENTURY ROOM 91 The above picture is from the interior of a kylix. It illus¬ trates an Attic legend: the story of Cephalus, the young Athenian hunter who was carried off by the goddess Eos, the Dawn. She has grasped his arm, and he turns his head with a gesture of surprise; her look is directed upwards, as if already planning her flight with him into the sky. The character of the drawing is not like that on most of the vases from the atelier of Hieron, and although signed by him, the vase was apparently decorated by an un¬ usually skillful and original painter in his employ who did not neglect abstract beauty of line, but subordinated it to expression of motion and of individuality. Fifth Century B. C. Kylix signed by Huron 92 CLASSICAL ART The drawing illustrated on this page is from an oil-jug which be¬ longs to a later stage of the red- figured period. The subject is an Athenian myth, the contest of Theseus with the Amazons. It will be noted that the figures do not all stand on the same level here; there is an indication of rough ground. The artists have solved certain problems of repre¬ sentation which long baffled the older painters: the rendering of the eye in profile, for instance. There is less of angularity in the composition than in the work of earlier painters, yet energy is not sacrificed to grace, and the drawing is still firm and vigorous. This style of deco¬ ration was perhaps specially influenced by the frescoes of Polygnotus and his contemporaries. Lekythos Fifth Century B. C. Drawing from a Lekythos FIFTH CENTURY ROOM 93 Pyxis, Odysseus and Nausicaa Fifth Century B. C. This picture, from the cover of a small round box, illus¬ trates a story in the Odyssey — the meeting of Odysseus and Nausicaa. Odysseus, awakened by the cries of the Phaeacian princess and her maidens, who are at play by the seashore, comes cautiously from the thicket where he has slept. Athena, his patron goddess, leads the way. Two of the maids are running away in fright; one is busy with the washing of a garment and does not see. The princess herself stands erect, calmly waiting the approach of the stranger. The variety and truth of characterization are remarkable in so unpretentious a picture. 94 classical art Engraved Gems Intaglio seals present a tradition of unbroken con¬ tinuity from the primitive Cretan civilization to that of classical Greece and Rome. Impressions of seven gems of the earlier periods are reproduced above, six of them illustrating the stones most favored by the gem cutters: sard (2, 6), chalcedony (l, 3), agate (?), jasper (l). The lively but careless representation of a cow suckling her calf on the Mycenaean seal (l) is in striking contrast to the precise rendering of the griffin attacking a stag ( 3 ), a work of the early fifth century, still archaic in execution and subject. The grazing stag ( 2 ) is done in a more natural manner. An increas¬ ing fondness for the human figure is illustrated by the representation of Danae ( 4 ), a work refecting the spirit of Pheidian art, and by the graceful crouching figure of a girl playing knuckle-bones (5) on a gold ring of about 400 B. C. The characteristics of Etruscan gems, pronounced modelling of the muscles and ingenious adaptation of the subject to the field, will be recog¬ nized in the two examples above (o, 7). MARBLE ROOM 95 Head from, Chios Marble, Fourth Century B. C. A veil originally covered the top and back of this head, which was made separately for insertion in a draped statue. The soft, subtle modelling and the impression¬ istic treatment of some details point to an artist closely related to Praxiteles, if not to that master himself. The face is that of a modest girl, the soul of gentleness, radiant with quiet pleasure, diffusing unconsciously her happiness and youth around her.” 9 6 CLASSICAL ART Aphrodite Marble, Fourth Century B. C. The grain and slight translucency of the marble are here peculiarly adapted to the artist's aim. The fine oval shape of the face, the quality of the modelling, and the expressiveness of the features show that this head is the work of an Attic master, probably of the School of Praxiteles. MARBLE ROOM 97 Amazon in Battle Marble, Fourth Century B. C. An Amazon on horseback and a fallen opponent con¬ stituted the group of which the extant fragment is illus¬ trated on this page. Only the forearm of the latter figure is preserved. It was apparently raised to shield his body from the threatening spear of the woman-warrior. The battle of Theseus with the Amazons was a theme which offered the dramatic contrasts and pathetic situations sought by sculptors in the later years of the fifth century and in the fourth century B. C. The vitality imparted to every detail of such a composition bv the best skill of the time is illustrated in this mutilated marble. The spring of the horse is clearly seen; the rendering of muscles shows the excitement accompanying the motion. The edge of the rider’s garment is driven back in wavy folds; the vigorous form and fine outlines of the thigh and knee appear above the heavy Thracian boot. 98 CLASSICAL ART Statue of a Boy Marble, Fourth Century B, C. The statue has no attribute by which its exact signifi¬ cance and purpose can be determined. It is an ideal statue of a bov, sixteen years old, perhaps; not an athlete, if one may judge from the softness of the body and the lack of emphasis on structure and muscular development. The easy grace of the attitude and the fine poise of the head re¬ call the Athenian youths on the Parthenon frieze. Long exposure has given the Pentelic marble a warm tone which heightens the effect of vitality in the modelling of the figure. MARBLE ROOM 99 Head of Homer Marble , Hellenistic Artists of the Hellenistic period (300-100 B. C.) not only portrayed contemporaries, but also sought to embody in marble or bronze their ideas of great men of the past. To this effort we owe the imaginary portraits of Homer, one of the best of which is in this Museum. It follows tra¬ dition in representing the poet as aged and blind. In spite of the unsparing realism which has shown the failing of physical vigor, the intellectual power of the head is un¬ mistakable. The tone of color which the marble has taken on is in harmony with the subject. IOO CLASSICAL ART Statuette of Heracles Marble , Graeco-Raman Copy The h ero stands in the simple pose of the athletic statues of the middle of the fifth century. His body is powerfully developed, and weariness is suggested by the droop of the head, but these elements are not exagger¬ ated, as in later representations of Heracles. The origi¬ nal, probably of bronze and on the same scale, has been ascribed to the Attic sculptor, Myron. Its style has been reproduced with unusual fidelity by the Roman copyist. FOURTH CENTURY ROOM IOI Sirens, imagined as half bird, half woman, were especially associated with death and so were often represented on grave monuments. The one figured above is a fragment of such a monument. She is mourning for the dead; grief is expressed in the attitude — one hand clutching the hair, the other laid on the breast — and in the face. The deeply- shadowed eyes and the contracted brow are speciallv characteristic of a period of art which sought to portray individual character and even transitory feeling. Siren Marble, Fourth Century B. C. 102 CLASSICAL ART Torso Marble, about 300 B. C. The skill with which the Greek sculptor employed trans¬ parent and clinging drapery to emphasize a noble form is illustrated by the fragment shown on this page. Its dig¬ nity and animation are characteristic of classical art in its worthiest representations of the gods. FOURTH CENTURY ROOM 103 Head of a Youth Marble, Graeco-Roman Copy Scopas perhaps contrib¬ uted more than any other sculptor of the fourth cen¬ tury B. C. to that devel¬ opment of the expression of character and feeling which marks the art of the period. This head is a copy of some unknown work of Scopas or of one of his pupils. Great in¬ tensity of expression is given by the upward gaze of the shadowed eyes; the structure of the head sug¬ gests physical strength, the parted lips and full throat a restless vitality. The practice of modelling in terra-cotta was adapted to the decoration of vases; some were even shaped in imitation of human or ani¬ mal heads. The elaborate plastic ornament of the lekythos illustrated here al¬ most obscures the fact that it is a vase. The new-born Aphrodite is springing from an opening sea shell; Erotes hover on either side, so that the group seems to have an upward movement. Plastic Lekythos Fourth Century B. C 104 CLASSICAL ART Amphora Fourth Century B. C. A fine example of the colossal vases made in Southern Italy in the fourth century B. C. The scene on the front shows Achilles, attended by Phoenix, seated on a couch. In the foreground among overturned vases lies the headless body of Thersites, and at a little distance the head. The use of plastic ornament and of added white color is char¬ acteristic of the later period of vase painting. FOURTH CENTURY ROOM 105 Circular mirror-cases were often decorated with reliefs of fine technique, made by hammering a thin plate of bronze into an intaglio mould. The finish of detail possible in such work is evident in the group of a Centaur and a nymph pictured above. The composition is balanced and ingeniously planned to obscure the monstrous nature of the Centaur. The folds of the lion skin tied about the Centaur’s shoulders and of the drapery of the nymph are rendered with a delicacy and grace of line appropriate to the spirit of the theme and to the decorative effect desired in a design on a mirror-case. Mirror Case Fourth Century B. C. io6 CLASSICAL ART Tanagra Figurines, about 300 B. C. I n the classical period terra-cotta figurines were usually shaped in moulds of the same material. A number of such moulds, found in Asia Minor, in Italy, and in Egypt, are shown in the Terra-Cotta Room downstairs. Usually a figure was moulded in several parts. With a rela¬ tively small number of moulds a great variety of forms could thus be produced through different combinations of heads and arms and wings with bodies. It is sur¬ prising that these somewhat mechanical combinations do not result in more conspicuous faults of proportion and line. The more careful artificers added details by hand, giving an individuality of expression to the face which would be impossible in mechanical modelling After baking, the flesh, hair, eyes, and lips were appropriately colored; bright tones of pink and blue were often applied to the dress. This finish of detail characterizes the figurines which have been discovered on the site of the little city of Tanagra in Boeotia. Their date is from about the middle of the fourth century B. C. to the end of the third. Although found in cemeteries, there is no evidence of religious pur¬ pose in their manufacture. They probably have no other significance than the one most naturally attached to them: FOURTH CENTURY ROOM 107 Tanagra Figurines, about 300 B. C. they are graceful representations of ladies and youths and children as they walked, talked, and played. The types of Tanagra ladies are far the most common, but have great variety of attitude and motive. Their dress, usually con¬ sisting of a chiton reaching to the feet and an ample hima~ tion, could be disposed in numberless pleasing ways. They suggest very vividly at least the outward charm of Greek life, as one might have seen it in the streets of Athens. Tanagra Figurines, about 300 B. C io8 CLASSICAL ART Portrait oj a Lady Bronze, about 300 B. C. The conquests of Alexander placed Macedonian rulers over the ancient kingdoms of the Orient, and introduced in Egypt and Syria an aristocracy of Macedonians and Greeks. The lady whose portrait is shown here undoubt¬ edly belonged to this class; found in Egypt, it is pos¬ sibly the portrait of Arsinoe II (born about 316 B. C.). It appears to be considerably idealized, yet the features are expressive of a distinct personality: the individual shape of the nose and the lips is noticeable. The detailed treatment of the hair io very fine, and is in interesting contrast with the more impressionistic method demanded by the technique of marble. The eyes were of another material and were inserted. LATE GREEK ROOM ICQ Found in the valley of the Rhine, not far from Coblenz, this statuette is a relic of the extension of Roman imperial power over western Germany. It reproduces a sculp¬ tural type of the fifth century B. C. A dis¬ tinguished scholar has conjectured that it is a copy of the Athena Promachos of Pheid- ias, the colossal statue of bronze which stood on the Acropolis of Athens. The arrange¬ ment of the dress re¬ calls that of other statues of Athena which are attributed to Pheidias and his as¬ sociates. The width of the aegis, enveloping the body like a cloak, is unusual in sculpture. The goddess held her spear in the left hand. Athena Graeco-Roman The attitude of the figure has a constraint which is probably to be attributed to the copyist. I 10 CLASSICAL ART Aphrodite Fourth Century B. C. The artists of the period to which this figure is attributed knew so well how to please the eye through qualities of composition and general harmony of lines that even their less careful work is valued. This statuette is considered one of the most beautiful in the collection of the Museum, although its proportions are not faultless, and some details are neglected. Perhaps the most important element of its attractiveness is the simple and unaffected attitude, which has repose and yet suggests the possibility of grace¬ ful motion. LATE GREEK ROOM 11 I The many offices of Hermes are re¬ flected in the vari¬ ety of forms under which the god is represeated in Greek art. The archaic statuette il¬ lustrated on page 72 shows him as a god of the flocks. The figure pictured here has unfortu¬ nately lost its spe¬ cial attributes, but the left hand origi¬ nally carried the wand of his au¬ thority as herald of Zeus; in the right may have been a purse, the symbol of his asso¬ ciation with trade. It will be noted that after the ar¬ chaic period he is always represented as a youthful god. His function as patron of athletes may have led to this transformation of the type. There is a reminiscence of fifth century art in the proportions of the figure. Hermes Graeco-Roman I 12 CLASSICAL ART Most of the cylindrical bronze boxes of the type illus¬ trated above have been found at Palestrina (ancient Praeneste); but the style of their ornamentation marks them as objects of Etruscan art. The drawings with which the cylindrical surface and the cover are adorned are of the same technique and style as those on Etruscan mirrors. The chain handles are attached by rings which are fastened to the box without regard to the en¬ graved design. On one side of this cista is shown a camp scene; on the other are Furies pursuing a young man; on the lid, Dionysus and his attendants. Three lions in high relief crouch on the feet which support the cista. Such boxes often held the small utensils of the lady’s toilet — mirrors, perfumes, unguents, and rouge. Etruscan, Third Century B. C. Cista LATE GREEK ROOM 113 Some works in terra-cotta were apparently scrupulous copies of popular statues. Such a copy of the famous “Diadumenos” of Polycleitus is known. The figure shown here apparently belongs to this class of direct copies, although the original has not been identified. The subject is Aphrodite, but the form and motive, as often in Hellenistic art, are human. In perfection of de¬ tail and harmony of proportions it is at once distinguished from the common figurines of indus¬ trial manufacture. The color of the clay is an indication that the P ro lte statuette was made in Smyrna. This figure of a reclining Heracles, found in Southern Italy, is also probably an imitation of a work on a larger scale and in a more valuable material. The hero has the excessive muscular development which Hellenistic sculptors attributed to him, yet even in this imita¬ tive work the head is char¬ acterized by marks of the intellectual power which controls and directs the physical strength. Heracles From Southern Italy CLASSICAL ART I 14 Statuettes from Myrina, Second, Century B. C. The necropolis of Myrina, a city of Asia Minor, not far from Smyrna, has also yielded many terra-cotta figurines. They belong for the most part to a somewhat later date than do the Tanagra statuettes. Types of Eros and Aphrodite are very common among them. The figure at the right on this page, an Eros represented as drawing a sword, is a spirited example of the Myrina terra-cottas. The figure at the left, also from Myrina, was not made in a mould, but carefully fashioned by hand. The subject is again Eros, but he is here a child, as often in Hellenistic and Graeco-Rornan art, and almost universally in modern pictures and sculpture. The whimsical fancy which has dressed this small god in the lion-skin of Heracles is equally characteristic of the Hellenistic age. The figure shows the sympathy with which the late Greek artists studied and represented the forms of children. LATE GREEK ROOM Engraved Gems The later development of the art of gem engraving is illustrated by the examples shown above. The figure of a wounded warrior on an Italiote gem should be compared with the treatment of the same subject on an archaic Etruscan scarab (see p. 94). Along with a distinct loss of freshness and vigor, the impression is given of a conscious striving for effect on the part of the artist. The same suggestion of a studied pose de¬ tracts from the beauty of the intaglio of Hermes with a lyre, a work of the Augustan Age. The scene on the second seal is Alexandrian in spirit; a Triton is swimming in the sea, supporting a Nereid on his back, while a Cupid and a dolphin sport in the waves before them. The excellence of the Romans in the field of portraiture is illustrated by the two intaglio heads in the lower row and the cameo of green turquoise with the busts of Livia and the young Tiberius. CLASSICAL ART I 16 Cameo Graeco-Roman Cameos, representations in relief cut in precious stones, were highly prized by the Romans of the Imperial period. For the work illustrated here, one of the most renowned ex¬ amples of cameo engraving, the artist chose a sardonyx with a layer of cafe-au-lait tinge above another of black, adapting the contrast of tones to a scene lit by a torch. Erotes, or Cupids, were often shown playing as grown-up people. Here they are engaged at a wedding. A sturdy torch-bearer leads Eros and Psyche by a fillet. Eros clasps a dove in his hands. Psyche, clad in a long robe, with butterfly wings, walks close by his side; both are veiled. To the left an Eros holds a basket of fruit over their heads; to the right another stands near the couch. The group is so naturally composed and so animated that one almost forgets the subtlety of the technique which has given the idea complete and delicate expression under the difficult conditions presented by the material and the size of the gem. The cameo is signed by the artist, Tryphon. In the last century it was in the collection of the Duke of Marlborough, to which it came from the Arundel collection. GRAECO-ROMAN GALLERY The slender neck and small head seem inconsistent with so massive a frame, yet this fragment has an enduring at¬ tractiveness, due, perhaps, to the attitude of melancholy revery, unconscious of all observers. Such a mood is appropriate to Hermes as conductor of souls to the world of the dead. Hermes Marble, Graeco-Roman 118 CLASSICAL ART Roman Portrait Terra-cotta, First Century B. C. The head shown above is unique as a portrait in terra¬ cotta, probably made with the use of a life mask. The face is more natural and animated than most casts from life, and the pose of the head seems characteristic of the man. The artist has sketched the hair and has suggested the momen¬ tary glance of the keen eyes. Vividness of expression and literal rendering of detail make the head seem surprisingly modern. The subject is a Roman of the last century of the Republic. GRAECO-ROMAN GALLERY Marble Portrait Heads Augustus, 27 B.C.-14 A.D. Second Century A.D. Divine honors were accorded to the emperor Augustus in the provinces of the Roman empire even in his life¬ time, and the demand for portraits of him must have been incessant. The head here reproduced shows him as a man of mature years. In its marked but not exaggerated realism it is in interesting contrast to another head of Augustus exhibited nearby. The latter is an idealization rather than a portrait. The subject of the second portrait illustrated above is not known; apparently it is a Roman lady of the time of the Antonines, for she wears her hair in the fashion of Faustina, the wife of Antoninus Pius. A breathing likeness of an intelligent, somewhat master¬ ful, and above all, aristocratic woman. Her eyes are small and near together, the nose is rather aquiline, the mouth expressive, the jaw firm. The fine head is admirably poised.” 120 CLASSICAL ART Portrait Marble, Second Century A.I). This head is sculptured in gray Asiatic marble of very fine, close grain, and has a surface polish which is quite unusual in ancient sculpture. The mastery of material which has enabled the sculptor to reproduce the hard lines of the face and the texture of the skin permits us to suppose that it is a truthful portrait, and that if more were known of the subject his experience and character would prove to be reflected in this mar¬ ble. Details of technique show that it is to be assigned to the second century A. D. GRAECO-ROMAN COURT I 2 I Cast from an Arretine Mould Vintage Scene Arretium in Etruria was the centre of the manufacture of red glazed pottery with decoration in relief, whose motives were probably copied from the work of Hellenistic silver¬ smiths. Casts from terra-cotta moulds made for the pro¬ duction of this pottery are shown on this page. Cast from an Arretine Mould Sacrifice 122 CLASSICAL ART Painted Vases Few objects of antiquity are more fragile Tuan vessels of clay; none are harder to destroy altogether. Marbles suffer by weathering, and still more by violence; bronzes fall into dust by corrosion; but terra-cotta vases, though often broken in many fragments, are not subject to decay, and are of too common material to be appropriated to new uses. A collection of Greek vases not only illustrates the tradi¬ tions and principles of a minor art, but reflects the subjects and in a measure the style of mural paintings which are entirely lost. They are probably also to be associated closely with contemporary work in other lesser arts, such as bronze repousse relief and the inlaying of wood with ivory. Their value to the student of classical literature, religion, and private antiquities is apparent to one who considers the endless variety of mythological and genre pictures which ornament the ware of the classical age. Painted pottery was produced in Greece from an early date in the prehistoric period, and did not fall into disuse until the third century B. C. The earliest pot¬ tery was moulded by hand. Examples in the case of Cypriote ware (Case 1 ) show its rude shapes and its primitive linear decoration, produced by scratching the surface with a pointed tool. The invention of the oven and of the potter’s wheel made uniform color and sym¬ metrical shape possible; the substitution of painted or¬ nament for incised patterns led to far greater freedom and accuracy of design. The series of vases from Crete (Case 2) illustrate the development of the art during the second millennium B. C. ; the finely-washed clay, the graceful shapes and delicate walls, and the spirited designs of the better specimens indicate the high stan¬ dard that was attained. The finest vases of the later part of this period were decorated with designs more or VASE ROOMS (GROUND FLOOR) 123 less freely adapted from plant and animal life, particu¬ larly the life of the sea; lilies, sea plants, and shellfish are common subjects. The Museum possesses a few late Mycenaean vases on which such ornaments are painted in dark, lustrous colors. A fairly sharp line separates the ware just described from the earliest pottery of the classical period. Heavier shapes prevail; the ornament is mainly geometrical, not derived directly from nature, though crudely-drawn an¬ imals and men are not unusual; many of the vases were made to serve as tomb monuments. Of this geometrical ware one case is shown (Case 3). In the eighth and seventh centuries both the shapes and the ornamentation of pottery are based on Oriental models. On the ware of Naukratis, Rhodes, and Corinth (Cases 4-5), the lotus bud, the rosette, and spiral designs are seen, together with rows of animals both real and fantastic. The technical skill of the potter again rises nearly to the level of the best Cretan ware, and a lustrous black glaze is occasionally secured. In the sixth century Athens became the centre of the potter’s art. The pure black glaze was combined with the rich red of the pottery to produce splendid results; the shapes were refined, the conventional decorative ornament was confined to definite limits, and the inter-, est of the vases was much increased by the use of scenes of human interest, mainly mythological in character. In these scenes, some of which were signed by the painters, the figures were drawn in black glaze; purple and white were often added to bring out parts of the figure, and details were incised with a sharp instrument. Of these black-figured vases a few fine specimens are placed upstairs, but the main series is in Cases 6 - 7 , 13 “15. About 500 B. C. the reversal of the colors — that is, the use of black glaze for the background and the red of the clay for the figures — permitted the use of fine 124 CLASSICAL ART black lines instead of incised lines for the details of the figures. In the first half of the fifth century skillful painters devoted their attention to work on vases, par¬ ticularly on kylikes, many of which were signed by the artists. The four most famous of these — Euphro- nios, Douris, Hieron, Brygos—as well as many others are represented by characteristic examples of their work (Cases lb-24-, and Fifth Century Room, Cases 2, 3, 5). In Cases 11-12 the black vases with moulded orna¬ ment (bucchero ware) were pottery imitations of metal ware ornamented in relief. Most of these vases were made in Etruria, but a few small pieces from Greece are exhibited. The white vases with designs drawn in outline in Cases 19 and 22 (lekythoi) were perfume vases, used for the most part in connection with the burial of the dead. The freedom of the drawing and the occasional use of color lend them a special interest. The later development of vase painting in Southern Italy is illustrated in Cases 26-28. Here the effort was for picturesque results, and the drawing was care¬ less and sometimes crude. Occasionally the scenes represented and the rich effects are attractive in spite of the poor workmanship. COINS 125 Coins The highest achievements ever produced in die engraving were the coins made by the Greeks in the sixth, fifth, and fourth centuries B. C. The types on these coins were the badges of the towns or authorities which issued them, attest¬ ing the weight and purity of the metal as a personal seal certifies the authenticity of a document. Their artistic value is that they reflect the incessant activity of the Greek imagination, which controlled even the design of an instru¬ ment of commerce. The point of view was detached and objective; symbolism and allegory of deep import were ex¬ cluded. The range of subjects was narrow, partly because of the nature of coins, but also because Greek public art of this period limited itself to simple themes related to worship or heroic myth and athletic contests, repeating old subjects rather than inventing new. It may be remarked that even in the decoration of these small objects, which would have been well adapted to pure design in low relief, the Greek did not escape from his dominant interest in the representa¬ tion of life. He preferred still to engrave forms of men and gods and beasts on his coins, though they had to be exe¬ cuted in high relief, which to modern eyes appears unprac¬ tical and undesirable in coins. Granted this limitation in choice of motives, the decora¬ tive skill of the engraver is abundantly illustrated — pre¬ eminently, perhaps, on such a coin as that of Naxos (24), where the artist represented a satyr with his wine-cup, seated on the ground, and ingeniously composed within a circle which is completed by means of the inscription. There is no loss of spontaneity in these difficult adaptions of sub- 1, 2, 3, Athens. 4, Ichnae, Macedonia; 5, Uncertain, Asia Minor; 6, Caulonia, Italy. 7, Thurium, Italy; 8, Himera, Sicily; 9, Terina, Italy. 10. 11, Agrigentum, Sicily. - w > yW £■ ‘s* 126 CLASSICAL ART COINS 127 ject to space; only in later designs, possibly in the delicate head of Demeter (14), made in 346 B. C., is there conscious effort in the modelling. The coins exhibit an unsurpassed skill in draughtsmanship and representation in relief. The creations of the earliest art are readily distinguished by their linear quality from those of later date, where the artist is more occupied with surfaces than with sharp edges. A comparison of the head of Athena of the sixth century (1) with the same subject issued fifty years later (3), or the cattle of Ichnae (4) with the bull of Thurium (7), or of the Heracles of Thebes (13) with the Hermes of Cyzieus (18), illustrates this fact. We are attracted by the drawing in the archaic coins; by the modelling in those of developed style. In a long series of objects of restricted size the observer becomes conscious of the limitations imposed by their minuteness, but the Greek breadth of conception and power to suggest the great by the little bursts through these bounds. The happy strength of the Greek artist to omit the accidental without becoming tedious, and record the essential while preserving the human and vita!, finds lumi¬ nous illustration in this field. The sense of scale does not forbid us to see a statue in the archaic Apollo(?) of Cau- lonia (6), or in the Nymph at Himera (8), or the seated Victory of Terms. (9). The Heracles of Croton (22) might adorn a pediment of the Parthenon, and the Hermes of Pheneus (20) be influenced by a work of Praxiteles. The unrivalled head of Hera on the coin of Pandosia (28) re¬ produces, probably, the head of a statue. Treatment of the same subject varies to a considerable extent. The Apollo at Chaleidice (21) resembles that at Rhegium (29); but these differ from his feminine appear- 12, Archelaus I.; 13, Thebes, Greece; 14, Delphi, Greece. 15, Alexander the Great.; 16, King Lysimachus. 17, Amphipolis, Greece; 18, Cyzieus, Asia Minor; 19, Rhodes. 20, Pheneus, Greece; 21, Chaleidice, Greece. 128 CLASSICAL ART COINS 129 slice at Amphipolis (17) and the virile sentiment in his head as sun god at Rhodes (19). Again, the literal representa¬ tion of the eagle (5) is a conception distinct in aim from the picturesque rendering at Agrigentum (10, 11), and from the more plastic presentation of the bird in its struggle with a serpent (31). Another instance of variation of subject is afforded in the Theban and Cyzicene kneeling figures (13 and 18), where the slight difference of treatment of a pose already familiar to us in the Aegina pediments, serves to distinguish Heracles from Hermes. Direct portraiture comes late in the period. Features of individuals may appear in the guise of a divinity in the mag¬ nificent head on the coin of Archelaus (12), at the end of the fifth century, or in the somewhat earlier representation of Heracles at C&marina (30); the features of Alexander the Great may be suggested on his coins (15), but they are not certainly shown until his successor, Lvsimachus (323 B. C.}, placed them on his issues (16), though still with the attributes of a god. This is one of the earliest certain instances of the portrait of an individual head. Ancient coins were not chased or cast, but struck by hand. The difficulty of the process, when modern mechan¬ ical appliances were unknown, accounts in part for the irregularity of their shape; but it may be also supposed that this irregularity was long perpetuated in reminiscence of the rough forms of ingots which passed as currency be¬ fore coins were stamped. Such a conjecture is made plausi¬ ble by the conspicuous lack of symmetry in the eiectrum coins of Asia Minor, which were made nearest to the place of the invention of coinage. It must be remembered that coins were produced, not primarily as objects of art, but by the thousand as instru- 22, Croton, Italy; 23, Syracuse, Sicily; 24, Naxos, Sicily. 25, 26, Syracuse, Sicily. 27, Syracuse, Sicily; 28, Pandosia, Italy; 29, Rhegium, Italy. 30, Camarina, Sicily; 31, Elis, Greece. 130 CLASSICAL ART COINS I 7 l ments of trade; we may readily forgive, therefore, super¬ ficial imperfections. No objects of Greek art better illus¬ trate the diffusion of Greek genius than the coins, which were issued not only by the great cities, but by many small towns throughout the Greek world, from the coasts of Asia and Thrace to Italy. We cannot judge of the motives which inspired their makers at a time when imagination was far more free than to-day, and the power of expression readier; but it is hard to consider the stream of superb coins which poured from the mints of Sicily and Italy during the second half of the fifth century (for instance, 7-11 and 22-30) without the conviction that civic pride induced general rivalry and stimulated artists to supreme effort. The climax was reached in the work of the artists Cimon and Evaenetus. Cimon’s facing head of the goddess Arethusa, with dolphin-, gambolling among her streaming tresses (23), and the barley-crowned head of Persephone by Evaenetus (25) were accepted as standards in antiquity, and the Persephone has influenced many modem coins. Note. A guide to the Catharine Page Perkins Collection of Greek and Roman Coins has been published by the Museum and may be consulted in the Library. A Catalogue of the Greenwell-Warren Collection, purchased from the Pierce Fund in 1904, has also been published: Reglimg, Die griechischen Miinzen der Sammlung Warren, Berlin , 1906. PICTURES FINDING LIST Page Gallery 142, 143, 145 II 146 III 147 VII 148, 149 IV 150 .Picture Reserve (Ground Floor) 151 IV 153 III 155-159 IV 160 III 161, 162 IV 163 X 165-169 IV 171 III 172-174 IV 175 . . . Eighteenth Century 176 V 178-180 VIII 181 XII 182 VIII 183 XI 184-186 VIII 187 ..... X 188-191 V 192 . . Water-Color (Ground Floor) 193-199 VI 200 X 201 Hunt Gallery (elevator from Entrance) 202-207 X ROBERT DAWSON EVANS GALLERIES EOR PAINTINGS Ground Floor Pa indicates the office of the Department WESTERN ART TO THE END OF THE RENAISSANCE, 1600 B Y the second century A. D. there were Christians in nearly all parts of the Roman Empire. As far as the new religion found expression in art, it made use of simple symbols and symbolic pictures executed in the Roman manner. This use of symbols was in accord with the intellectual tendency of the time. The first monumental Christian art was produced after the recognition of Christianity by the state in 327, under the Emperor Constantine. The old basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul and others were then built outside the walls of Rome over the burial places of the early saints and mar¬ tyrs. The materials were often taken from Roman temples, but new works of Christian art, glass mosaics in glowing color, decorated the interior walls. On these mosaics and on the contemporary sarcophagi and miniatures appeared direct representation of Old and New Testament scenes in addition to the symbols of the early Christians. The literary imagery of the Jewish writers was translated into pictorial and plastic forms by a people who had long been familiar with such expression. Christian churches rose in many parts of the Empire; in Rome, in Syria, and in Constantinople, the new capital founded by Constantine in 330 on the site of the Greek colony of Byzantium. At Constantinople the later art of Rome was again brought into contact with Greek tradition, and, influenced by Syria and Persia, it culminated in the magnificently decorated church of Hagia Sophia built in the sixth century. This church is now a Turkish mosque. 136 PICTURES During the centuries that followed, while the nations of Western Europe were still in the making, there existed brilliant civilizations in the Levant and at Constantinople. The most important period of Byzantine art extends from the middle of the ninth century to the middle of the eleventh. Many ivory carvings, objects in gold and silver, bronzes and textiles, in the beautiful workmanship of this time, reached Western Europe through Southern Italy and Venice. The Byzantine influence in the art of the Russian people dates from their conversion to Christianity, about the year 1000. Under the inspiration of the new religion of Islam, the Arabs, in the seventh century, conquered Syria and Egypt and Northern Africa and Southern Spain. The cities of Bagdad, Damascus, and Cairo became centres of a new civilization, vividly portrayed in the “Arabian Nights.” The religion of the Arabs forbade them to represent the human form; their efforts centred in design and color. The achievements of later Islamic art include the Alhambra at Granada (about 1300 ), the mosques of Constantinople (after 1453 ), the buildings, ceramics (see pp. 215 - 218 ), and textiles (see pp. 230 - 23(3 ) of Persia and Asia Minor, and some of the finest architectural monuments of Central Asia and India. Western Europe in the early Middle Ages found artistic expression in the churches of the Romanesque type. Their somewhat heavy exteriors and round-arched windows, arcades, and vaults unite Byzantine, Roman, and Northern elements. They are found on both sides of the Alps with many local variations and often with a profusion of sculp¬ tured ornament. The best belong to the eleventh century. The problem of the stone vault, only partially solved during the Romanesque period, made great progress in the twelfth century with the general application of the pointed arch. The Gothic cathedrals which then arose were, like the Romanesque, shrines of the Christian religion and the expression of the ideals of a great religious age, but they grew up among peoples in Northern Europe whose tempera* INTRODUCTION 137 meiit and art were also the product of the realities about them. The result is an art in which the Roman element for the time being is almost entirely eliminated. The great height and slenderness of the supports of the Gothic cathedral were made possible by outside buttresses, while the concentration of the weight of the building on separate piers and columns permitted huge open spaces in the walls. These were filled with glass, jewel-like in its radiant color, framed in beautiful stone tracery. Skilled carvers in wood and stone decorated pinnacles, capitals, choirs, and doorways with ornament derived from local plants and from the structural forms of the building itself, and with little mechanical repetition. Grotesque monsters formed the gargoyles or waterspouts, and the draped human figure carved in stone served both for ornament and for in¬ struction. In France almost the whole body of science, nature, history, and religion, according to the mediaeval divisions, was represented in stone pictures upon the cathedral. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries Gothic art was perfected and spread over Western Europe. In the Fran¬ ciscan and Dominican churches and the civic cathedrals of Italy it often became an ornamental addition to the different local Romanesque styles. During the thirteenth century the cities along the Euro¬ pean routes of trade rapidly increased in importance, espe¬ cially the fortunately located cities of Italy. In Tuscany, Pisa developed earliest. Already in the eleventh and twelfth centuries its white marble cathedral had become a model for its neighbors. In T280 Niccolo Pisano carved his pulpit reliefs, drawing some of his motives from antique remains. The works of his successors show strong Gothic influence (see p. 246). The city of Siena next rose to im¬ portance. Its school of painting, although founded on Byzantine works, early showed a growing freedom from tradition and it possessed a decorative charm wholly its own (see the altar-piece by Bartolo di Fredi in the Picture Galleries). 138 PICTURES Florence, which gained real importance for the first time in the thirteenth century, began, shortly before 1300, the group of Gothic buildings which are the present landmarks of the city. Contemporary with Dante, Giotto di Bondone, the first of the long line of master painters of Italy, pro¬ duced his dramatic story-telling cycles of frescoes at Assisi, Padua, and Florence, including those portraying the life of St. Francis. After Giotto’s time mural fresco painting occupied a leading place in the art of Italy. In the early fifteenth century a German school of painting developed in Cologne (see p. 150), and the first master¬ pieces of Flemish painting, the work of Hubert and Jan Van Eyck, appeared (after 1432). The Flemish painters began the successful use of oil as a medium, and their influence on contemporary Italian painting, though not yet clearly defined, must have been important. Besides this development of painting (see p. 142), the fifteenth century and the next witnessed beautiful developments of late Gothic architecture in Flanders. About the year 1.500 tapestry weaving reached its height (see pp. 237-241). The vigor of Italian life and intellect produced at this time a great burst of creative art. The direction of its ex¬ pression was determined to a great extent by the newly awakened interest in the literature of Greece and Rome, much of which had been unknown to the Middle Ages. New ideas from these sources now profoundly influenced conduct and society. The pioneer of the classical movement was Petrarch, (d. 1374). His teaching as to the mutual relations of the patron, the artist, and the man of letters, and his appeal to Italian pride in ancient Rome, helped develop every art. Florence was the centre of the movement. Its citizens made collections of ancient gems, coins, and manuscripts, founded libraries, and attracted scholars. The first effect of the classical texts was less scholarship than inspiration and a gradual growth of the humanist point of view. INTRODUCTION 139 Under the patronage of the Medici, in the early fifteenth century, there arose at Florence a group of artists who had broken with the traditions of the followers of Giotto, and whose work, free, spontaneous, and human, was in accord with the new ideals. Their realism, their idealism, their religious feeling, their increasing paganism, reflected the opposing forces of the times. With decorative details of great delicacy and refinement, not as yet mere imitation of Roman work, their art possessed the qualities of sobriety and restraint and showed a sympathetic treatment of child¬ hood and an increasing interest in humanity. The Church welcomed this art and made use of it. In the sculpture of Donatello and his contemporaries, and the paintings of Masaccio, Fra Angelico (see p, 143), Fra Filippo Lippi, Botticelli and others at Florence, in the art of the hill towns from the valley of the Arno to the upper reaches of the Tiber in Umbria, and in that of the valley of the Po, Italy interpreted and visualized the Christian religion in a manner never to be forgotten. At Venice the earlier painters were followed by Giovanni Bellini, who painted many Madonnas grave and serene, still showing traces of the old hieratic Byzantine art, but ren¬ dered in the superb color which was the distinctive beauty of the Venetian school. (See the altar-piece of Bartolom¬ meo Vivarini; the Pieta of Crivelli, p. 145; and the en¬ gravings of Mantegna in the print collection.) In the mak¬ ing of beautifully printed books Venice led the rest of Italy. Sincerity of purpose characterized the art of the fifteenth century. Its expression was far more genuine than much of the technically perfected art of the next generation. With Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, completed at Milan in 1498, the golden age of painting began in Italy. The Popes became the most magnificent of patrons. Among the artists at Rome, Raphael best embodied the Renaissance spirit. In the Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican he painted, in the humanist manner, frescoes repre¬ senting religion, poetry, philosophy, and the cardinal vir- 140 PICTURES tues (standing for character), a synthesis which the mind of the Renaissance continually struggled to grasp. (See the engravings of Marcantonio Raimondi after Raphael in the print collection.) The splendid frescoes of Old Testa¬ ment subjects by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel belong to this period. At Venice Giorgione and Titian, with many others little inferior to themselves, reached a higher techni¬ cal stage in painting, and interpreted their subjects in a manner more secular and magnificent than religious. After 1500 direct imitation of Roman and late Greek art became more pronounced. The new St. Peter’s was begun in 1506. The Apollo Belvedere, discovered in 1491, and the Laocoon, discovered in 1506, became models for sculpture. Raphael drew up plans for the restoration of ancient Rome. Original Greek works had small influence as compared with Roman works; even the temples at Paestum, near Naples, were ignored. Meanwhile there was a vigorous artistic renaissance in the German cities along the routes of trade. T'he Gothic carvers and metal workers of the important commercial city of Nuremberg were famous. Its painter, Wolgemuth (see p. 158), was the teacher of Albrecht Diirer, who, like Leonardo da Vinci, was a thinker and a writer. (Diirer’s engravings and woodcuts may be studied in the print collection.) Contemporary with Diirer were the two Hol¬ beins, painters of Augsburg and Basle. The first half of the sixteenth century was the most dramatic period in Italian history. It saw, along with the culmination of Italian art, the loss of Italian liberty. The mutually jealous small city-states of Italy failed to unite against the outside enemy (Spain, France, and the Ger¬ mans), and the greater part of the peninsula passed under foreign control. Milan lost its independence in 1499, Rome was sacked in 1527, the republic of Florence came to an end in 1531. Venice, although humiliated, remained safe on her islands, and in her territories painting continued to flourish all through the century (see pp, 148 and 149), as INTRODUCTION 141 did literature for a shorter period at the neighboring courl of Ferrara. During this century lace-making was developed in Italy (see ])[). 253 to Stio), and majolica ware was produced in many of the cowns on the eastern slopes of the Apennines (see p. 25o). T he dome of the new St. Peter’s at Rome was finished about 1000. Conquered Italy became in matters of art the teacher of Northern Europe, where the great Gothic movement had spent itself. In France Italian influence early appeared in the royal palaces or chateaux of the valley of the Loire, with their happy mingling of native Gothic forms and Renais¬ sance ornament. The spirit of the Renaissance was, how¬ ever, too often misunderstood in the North, where the later works were usually imitated rather than those of the earlier and more inspired period. G. M. B. S. Reinach, Apollo, an illustrated Manual of the History of Art throughout the Ages, trans. Simmons, 2d edition, N. Y., 1907; A. Michel (ed.). Histoire de l'art, Paris, 1905-06, 4 vols. have ap¬ peared; the historical background may be obtained in J. H. Rob¬ inson, An Introduction to the History of Western Europe, Boston, 1902; convenient introductory books are O. M. Dalton, A Guide of the Early Christian and Byzantine Antiquities in the British Museum, London, 1903, and W. R. Lethaby, Mediaeval Art, 312-1350, N. Y., 1904. For the Renaissance see E. Muntz, Histoire de l’art pendant la renaissance, 3 vols., Paris, 1889-95. For painting consult: Crowe and Cavalcaselle, History of Paint¬ ing in Italy, London, 1903, ed. Douglas, 2 vols. have appeared; Blashfield and Hopkins edition of Vasari, 4 vols., N. Y., 1897; Wolt- man and YVoerman, History of Painting, 2 vols., N. Y., 1880-85; Bryan, Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, edited by G. C. Williamson, 5 vols., N. Y., 1903-05; R. Muther, History -of Modern Painting, 3 vols., London, 1895-96. The study of painting can be supplemented to advantage by the use of the print collection. Single painters and special subjects are treated in such series of monographs as the Great Masters , the Duckworth series, the Knack- fuss series, and many others contained in the Museum Library. Use should also be made of the thousands of photographs in the Museum Collection, and The Manual of Italian Renaissance Sculpture as illustrated in the Collection of Casts, published by the Museum. 1904. 142 PICTURES Marriage of Saint Catherine Sienese School , Fourteenth Century Allied to the work of Lippo Memmi, though not in technique strictly typical of him. The central small group shows two young knights throwing down their arms to embrace. Above, the inscription, ' AricodiNeri Arighettihad this panel made” (feee fare questa tavola), suggests a votive picture grown out of fear and hatred likea flower from the mire. The Arighetti are mentioned in Sienese fourteenth and fifteenth century records. ITALIAN I 43 Madonna and Child with Angels , Saints and a Donor Fra Ciovanni da Fiesole, called Beato Angelico, 1387-1455 This little panel, in tempera, which measures in height and width only eleven and a half inches, is a typical example of Fra Angelico, suggesting both his ecstatic devotion to the mysteries of religion and also his interest in the contemporary movement toward scientific investigation. The Virgin and Child and the adoring angels are painted with that mystic sweetness and holy joy which have produced the sentimental affection so generally felt for Fra Angelico, and the human figures with a marked interest in reality. Gift of Mrs. W. Scott Fitz. a 44 PICTURES Carlo Crivelli, after having learned his art in Venice, left that city never to return, and his pictures were painted in a group of small towns, east of the Apennines, near the Adri¬ atic coast, between Ancona on the north and Ascoli on the south, a disputed town on the border of the Papal states and the kingdom of Naples. This was a region little affected bv the Renaissance, and here he was able to work undis¬ turbed by outside influences and without serious rivals. Hence his art retains many characteristics of the early Venetians before Bellini, although enriched by his own development. The painting on the opposite pag'e is probably a detached panel from a large altar-piece; it is in tempera on wood and is inscribed Opus Caroli CrirclU 1485. 1 The strongly individualized heads, almost harsh in appearance, occurring side by side with a beautiful face, and the angular hands are characteristic, but the quiet seriousness of expression usual with Crivelli, is here and in other representations of the Pieta replaced by an attempt at violent emotion not wholly successful. The architectural details and the festoons of fruit show the influence of the school of Padua. Crivelli, unlike Squar- cione and Mantegna, has not copied literally the marble festoons from Roman sarcophagi and altars (first popu¬ larized by Donatello), but has rendered the fruit in a most natural manner, in striking contrast to the archaic figures. The decorative features of the painting, the elaborate textile patterns, the wide spaces of enamel-like color, the use of gold, and the absence of strong contrasts of light and shade, recall the best features of the old Venetian school and illustrate one of the most attractive sides of Crivelli’s art. 1 Ruskfortk, Carlo Crivelli , pp. 66, 67 and 103, London. 1900. ITALIAN MS Pieta, painted l^So Carlo Crivelli, Fifteenth Century 146 PICTURES Portrait called Giovanni Bentivoglio , 1443-1519 Andrea da Solario, 1458-1530 Solario was the most able as well as the most inde¬ pendent of the Milanese painters who were influenced by Leonardo da Vinci. His method was considerably affected by the painters of Venice, where he lived for a few years. I 11 this portrait, which is so carefully painted that it has an enamel-like quality, he has represented a resolute, aggressive personality, a man of physical as well as mental vigor. ITALIAN 147 Madonna and Child with St. Jerome Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, Late Fifteenth Century Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, a painter of Perugia, worked be¬ tween 1472 and 1521. He is believed to have been the instructor of Perugino, himself the master of Raphael. Comparatively few pictures by Fiorenzo exist, and fewer still with figures as large as these. The panel, in tempera, is conceived with the devotional feeling char¬ acteristic of the Umbrian painters and with their love of landscape, but with a sense of strong and refined color combination which is the painter’s own. mm 148 PICTURES Count Alborghetti of Bergamo and IHs Son Giovanni Battista Moroni, 1520 (?)-1578 Many painters, influenced by Venice but retaining their own local characteristics, flourished in Venetian territories. Moroni’s truthful portraits were painted at Bergamo. In that above, the father has just finisned a letter and handed it to his son to deliver. Portrait Vittore Carpaccio, 1450 ?-15M! ? This portrait by Carpaccio is distinguished for the soundness and force of its structural draughtsmanship, and the strength of its color. There is a feeling of uncompromising definition in the forms, with the ob¬ jectivity that is present in most portraits by the old masters. There is no idealization of the senator’s human qualities, which are keenly observed, and honestly represented. ITALIAN PICTURES I 50 2 j w ’c/5 o ^ dom of St. John the Baptist; outside, the Virgin with saints and the relatives of the givers ws painted in 1511 for the Chapel of St. Gertrude in the Chateau Eller, near Diisseldorf, GERMAN Portrait of a Lady Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1472-1553 This thoughtful portrait, representing Cranach in his graver mood, is dated 1549, the year before his mag¬ nificent portrait of himself which is now in the Uffizi, and four years before his death, at the age of eighty- one. In his later style the coloring is sober, but the forms are more graceful and his drawing is marvellously sure. Though he has not the insight of Diirer or Holbein the younger, his portraits are sincere and individual, and achieved the greatest popularity. 152 PICTURES The Death of the Virgin, by Michael Wolgemuth, is an exceptional example of a master little known, especially in America, though he is worthy of honor, both for his own vigorous and individual, if somewhat provincial style, and for the influence he exerted upon his more celebrated pupil, Albrecht Diirer. The legend of the Death of the Virgin relates that the Apostles were witnesses of the event, having been miracu¬ lously gathered from all parts of the world. They are rep¬ resented in the eleven figures with halos, the twelfth being perhaps Matthias, the successor of Judas, shown without a halo because the choice of the Apostles themselves and not of their Leader. St. John holds a palm leaf before the Virgin, another lifts his hand in benediction, a third carries the aspergillum with holy water, a fourth bears the cross, and a fifth blows to rekindle his censer. Strong coloring undimmed by age, careful and elab¬ orate representation of stuffs and drapery, emphatically modelled faces — portrait-like and individual all are united in this picture. The inscription in the panel at the base reads: “In the year of our Lord 1479, on the Friday before St. Walpurga’s Day, departed this life the honorable Mistress Hedwig Volkamer, to whom may God be gracious and compassion¬ ate.” Hedwig Tucher married Hartwig Volkamer the younger, who died in 1467, she surviving until 1479. The coat-of-arms on the left is the escutcheon of the Volkamer, and that on the right of the Tucher family. In the two kneeling figures of groom and bride, youthful and quaint in dress and bearing, this memorial altar-piece perpetuates the memory of the husband and wife. GERMAN 153 «dch <£lirifii arisuri;+79 iim f rnliia norSiBulbarani tag otrffhib bicS-lwIfeB f?tft tinn^Nolfauinw btr ©ott gist bigtiiisturdirrlygitn. The Death of the Virgin, fainted about UfiO Michael Wolqemuihi 1434-1619 154 PICTURES This remarkable portrait of Fray Feliz Palavicino is one of the finest works of El Greco. In the ruffled hair, the ashen cheeks, the brilliant eyes and refined hands of Fray Feliz, who is dressed in the robes of the Trinitarian order, the painter has here most forcibly presented the personality of the acute, nervous, fiery ecclesiastic. What Fray Feliz himself thought of the portrait he expressed in a sonnet addressed to the artist, 1 a translation of which follows: O Greek divine! We wonder not that in thy works The imagery surpasses actual being, But rather that, while thou art spared, the life that’s due Unto tny brush should e’er withdraw to heaven. The sun does not reflect his rays in his own sphere As brightly as thy canvases. Thou dost Essay, and like a god succeed. Let nature try: Behold her vanquished and outdone by thee! Thou rival of Prometheus in thy portraiture, May’st thou escape his pain, yet seize his fire: This does my soul for thee most ardently desire; And after nine and twenty years of life, Betwixt thy hand and that of God she stands perplexed, And doubts which is her body, where to dwell. Domenico Theotocopuli, called El Greco, El Griego, or Dominico Greco, was born in the island of Crete and trained in Venice. He went to Toledo in 1575, where he died in 1614. His original but somewhat eccentric genius did not find favor with King Philip II, who was then carrying for¬ ward the decoration of the Escorial palace. Many of El Greco’s portraits are admirable, and it is possible that Velazquez was influenced by them. El Greco was also a sculptor and an architect. 1 Palomino, El Museo Pidorico, Madrid, 1797; t. II, p. 428. SPANISH 155 Portrait 0 } Fray Feliz Hortemio Palavicino, painted 1609 El Greco (Domenico Theotocoptdi), 1546(f)-! 614- 156 PICT LUES Velazquez has here painted a more youthful face than appears in any of the other portraits of the royal family. It is that of a boy, not wholly at ease in his position, and rather resentful of his self-conscious¬ ness. The figure is standing beside a table covered with dull crimson velvet, upon which rests his hat. His dress is black, re¬ lieved only by a golden chain and the Order of the Golden Fleece and the linen at his wrists and neck. His left hand rests on the hilt of his sword; in his right he holds a paper. The absence of self-display in the dress and the sobriety of the surroundings accord with the fashion of the Spanish Court at the moment. This picture probably dates from 1623, in which year Velazquez became court painter. In it are seen all the qual¬ ities of his earlier work: the outlines of the figure are sharply drawn, the modelling is hard and lacks atmosphere, the painter works very, near his subject with sharp per¬ spective, the light is from the left, the background almost empty, the hands well shaped and conspicuous, and a closely-woven canvas is used with reddish brown under¬ painting. In a full strong light one sees the beautiful draw¬ ing of this figure, the determinate lines of the body, and the details of the dark clothes. Head from Portrait by Velazquez SPANISH 1 57 Early Portrait of Philip IV Diego Velazquez, 1599-1660 >5* PICTURES The picture on the opposite page represents t he son of Philip IV, with the dwarf, the attendant provided for royalties according to the taste of the time. The pair are at play. The prince is clad in a quaint mixture of infant dress and toy armor. He wears a steel gorget and has one hand placed on his min¬ iature sword; a sash crosses his chest; a baton in his disengaged hand is used as a support; his dark green frock is em¬ broidered with gold, with lace at the neck and wrists. A plumed hat lies on a cushion opposite him. The dwarf stands on a lower step of the dais holding a silver mace-like bauble and an apple. The prince's face is very beautiful and winsome with his blue eyes, bright, clear complexion and scant flaxen hair. The picture has a golden red under¬ tone which shows through everywhere. Don Baltazar Carlos, eldest son of Philip IV, was born in 1629. This portrait, in which he is only about two years old, is the earliest of a most interesting series painted at different times during his boyhood, showing him in hunting dress, on horseback, and in ordinary dress. The prince died in 1646, when only seventeen years old. The Infanta Mar¬ garita, born 1651, daughter of Philip IV and his second wife, appears in another charming series of portraits by Velazquez, including the famous Las Meninas (the Maids of Honor), painted when she was between three and seven years old. In 1659, the year before his death, Velazquez painted the little prince, Philip Prosper, then only two years old, who died two years later. Don Baltazar Carlos SPANISH 159 Don Baltazar Carlos and his Dwarf , painted 16S1 Diego Velazquez, 1599-166 n i6o PICTURES Coronation of the Virgin Spanish School, end of the Fifteenth Century An effort after richness in the decoration of fabrics, accessories, and the use of gold is characteristic of Spanish painting up to the end of the sixteenth cen¬ tury. Flemish and Italian influences frequently mingle in it. Often a number of figures are grouped within a narrow space. Portrait Francisco Goya y Lucie,rites, 1746-1828 A young man of slight build and delicate features, dressed in the costume of his time, stands near a table on which are writing - materials. He is believed to be the artist’s son. This portrait was probably painted before the larger one illustrated on the following page. SPANISH i 62 PICTURES Portrait of a Man Francisco Goya y Lucie,rites. 1746-1828 Goya, to whose work French artists of the nineteenth century are indebted, became painter to King Charles IV in 1789. His etchings depict contemporary Spain, in the scenes from the Bull Ring, in the bitterly satirical Caprichos (to be seen in the Museum collection of prints), in the Miseries of War, and in other series. This portrait is an example of Goya's most virile and at the same time most finished work. SPANISH 163 Portrait of My Unde Daniel and His Family Ignacio Zuloaga, (1870- 164 PICTURES Dutch Painting The Dutch people, Protestant in their religion, rich through their ocean commerce and their possessions in the East Ind ies, self-reliant, and independent after the success¬ ful termination of their eighty years’ struggle against Span¬ ish control, became definitely separated in the seventeenth century from the people of the Southern Netherlands. Those provinces still belonged to Spain and remained Catholic, and there Rubens continued to paint Italian tra¬ ditional subjects, although he interpreted them in a thor¬ oughly Flemish manner. The great Dutch 1 painters took little interest in Italian religious pictures, or in mythological or historical subjects, and in spite of the activity of the Dutch printing presses they had no literature of their own to put into painting. In a time of wars abroad and confusion of struggling parties at home, they preferred to ignore the hero, the fighting man, and the stirring episode. Instead they painted portraits of individuals, civic and corporation groups, quiet interiors and homely scenes, broad sweeps of sky over a landscape with cattle, and the commonest of everyday incidents. Many of then wonderful paintings of game, fruit, and flowers were simply signs for dealers. These painters brought an unfettered mind and eye to see their subject, and their art clothes it in color and in wonderful light and shadow. The careful workmanship and the soundness of their technical methods raises their pictures above the unimaginative literal rendering of the life of a provincial people, and makes of them works of universal interest; a portrait bv Rembrandt is a master’s study of the human face seen in varying conditions of light and shadow, or a picture by Pieter de Hooch (see p. ]P8) is above all else a marvellous rendering of sunlight coming into a darkened interior. Even when the picture is a coarse tavern scene or a prosaic meat shop, the true sense of color and the finished workmanship so delight the eye that sub¬ ject and composition are forgotten. Cf. Eugene Fromentin, The Old Masters of Belgium and Holland, trans. Robbins. Boston. 1882. DUTCH 165 Portrait of a Lady Franz Hals , 1581(?)-1666 The quiet, self-reliant, smiling lady whose portrait ap- pears in this picture, is seated in a favorite attitude of the artist, a book in one hand, the other grasping the arm of her chair. The picture is signed 164-8; in it the characteristics of Hals’ later manner may be studied. The greater part of Franz Hals’ life was spent in Haar¬ lem, where the finest series of his works is still to b« seen in the Town Hall. 166 PICTURES River Scene Jan Van Goyen, 1596-1656 Jan Van Goyen was one of the few greater Dutch artists whose birthdate falls before that of Rembrandt. Of the Dutch landscape, brought to its perfection later by Ruysdael and Hobbema, Van Goyen is called the creator. His life was passed within a few leagues of The Hague, where he became a substantial citizen. Portraits of Van Goyen exist by Franz Hals, Van Dyck, and Van der Heist — an engraving of the latter bearing the inscription genuinus Pictor Regionum ” ('' born painter of the region ”)• The present panel is signed and dated 1655, the year before Van Goyen's death, and the delicate veil of warm tone bathing the land¬ scape marks his latest manner. The intimate and quiet charm of his work has given Van Goyen an enduring fame. His pictures are at once important historically and enjoyable for their own sake. DUTCH 1 67 Portrait of the Wife of Dr. Nicholas Tulp Rembrandt Van Ryn, 1607-1669 168 PICTURES Dutch Interior Pieter de Ilooch, 1632(?)-1681 (?) In a room, darkened by a drawn curtain and lighted by an open door, are two women. One of them, stooping, is lighting the fire; the flame makes a bright spot in the gloom. The other woman holds a basket as if about to set out for market with the dog. Her red shoe is another bright spot of color. The next room, where the lower step and rail of a stairway can be seen, is filled with light from many windows. A bright ray of sunlight comes in through the open door striking along the edge of the casing, in contrast with the reflection, on the partition between the window and the doorway, from a red curtain at the outer window. Outside is a canal; on the opposite side a row of trees with figures of passersby, beyond them houses facing the canal, with the full sunlight lighting up their red-tiled roofs. DUTCH 169 Portrait of a Lady N. Maes, 1632-1633 A product of Maes’ maturity like this brilliant picture is generally more interesting to a student of painting than either his earlier or his later work. At first he painted with a simple fidelity, although according to an elaborate system, which later became a very florid use of thin color and a brilliant palette. He has endowed this portrait with all the distinction at his command, composing a rich background of blacks and grays, which both harmonize with the sedate and gentle dignity of the figure represented and serve to enhance its fragility and pallor. PICTURES l 70 The wealthy commercial and manufacturing cities of Flanders developed a brilliant school of painting in the fifteenth century. Their pictures are the first wholly suc¬ cessful combination of color with oil, and, whether secular or religious, they depict the things in which the contem¬ porary Flemish burgher took an interest. Bright textiles, jewels, portraits, architectural detail, landscapes which seem to be viewed through a reducing glass, are painted in warm color, and the influence of the miniaturist’s art is very apparent. The picture shown opposite is a beautiful example of the early Flemish school. Although ordinarily attributed to Rogier van der Weyden, it is argued with some reason that it is by Gerard David. The subject is St. Luke drawing the portrait of the Virgin, one of the legends of St. Luke. His usual symbol, the ox, is seen in a small room at the right, under the colored window and the book. The Virgin is seated under a canopy of Flemish brocade, on a Gothic wooden bench, on which is carved the Temptation of Eve. A loggia opens upon a garden with violets and other flowers, where a man and a woman are looking over a parapet. The distance presents one of those landscapes which the Flemish artists delighted to paint. The picture is upon an oak panel, and, like many other productions of these wonderful painters, is remarkable as well for its draughtsmanship and the establishment of forms in pure grisaille as for its color in its completed state. It is repainted in parts. The columns, the cushion on which the Saint kneels, the dark folds of the Virgin’s robe, and the sky and distance on the right, are easily distinguished as the work of a restorer. Beautiful as the original work is when viewed close at hand, its color is still more luminous when looked at from a distance. FLEMISH 171 St. Luke Drawing the Portrait of the Virgin Flemish School, Fifteenth Century 172 PICTURES Anna Maria de Schodt Anthony Van Dyck, 1599-1641 A burgher’s wife dressed in her most costly gown. This portrait is identified with that formerly over the family tomb in the cathedral of St. Gudule at Brussels . 1 1 Rooses, Funfzig Meisterwerlce von Van Dyck, Leipzig, 1900; p. 85. FRENCH 173 In 1647 Arnauld d’Andilly, elder brother of the famous Dr. Antoine Arnauld, had deserted the court of Louis XIII and was living at the Abbey of Port Royal des Champs, not many miles from Versailles, where he devoted himself to the religious life and to intellectual pursuits and the culti¬ vation of his garden. The portrait shows him as he was, a man of intelligence and amiability. Philippe de Cham- paigne, Flemish by birth but French by choice, was the painter of Port Royal, and d’Andilly a noted adherent. Artist and subject make this painting an historic document of moment. Arnauld d’Andilly Philippe de Champaigne, 1602-1674 PICTURES Parnassus Claude Gellee , railed Lorraine, iHOQ-168% Parnassus, one of the few paintings in the Museum representing a mythological subject, is an important example of Claude Lorraine, who painted especially landscapes, in which he endeavored to express various effects of light and transparent atmosphere. He exer¬ cised a great influence upon modern painters, upon Turner in England and Corot in France. This picture was painted for the Constable Colonna in 1081. In the disposition of the figures of the picture Claude was inspired by the famous fresco of Raphael in the Vatican, representing the same subject. The Muses are assembled on Mt. Helicon, listening to the lyre of Apollo; nearby is the fountain Hippoerene, which Pegasus caused to spring up with a blow from his hoof. But in a picture by Claude the figures always count for little; its charm lies in the poetically-conceived land¬ scape, with its harmony of line and delicately-blending, soft color. FRENCH 175 The Halt at the Fountain Frangois Boucher, 1708-171U The Museum also possesses "Going to Market,*’ a companion piece to this picture. Boucher’s talents were devoted to the entertainment of the luxurious court of Louis XV and the circle of Madame de Pompadour. His easel pictures, mural paintings, de¬ signs for tapestries and scenery for the theatre reflect the taste and temper of his day, its pleasure in what was grace¬ ful, no matter how unreal, its determination to ignore every¬ thing painful or unpleasant. Jean Marc Nattier, 1685- 1766, was the portrait painter of this same society. The world for which Boucher painted was weary of the academic compositions of the days of Louis XIV. It had welcomed the “fetes galantes” of Watteau, 1684-1721, and of Lancret, 1690-1743. Boucher’s successor, Frago¬ nard, 1732-1806, painted still more intimately its manners and fashions. 176 PICTURES Benjamin Franklin J. S. Duplessis, 1725-1802 During his sojourn in France, 1776-1783, Franklin’s portrait was painted repeatedly. He wrote in 1780: “I have at the request of friends sat so much and so often to painters and statuaries, that I am perfectly sick of it.” 1 The portrait by Duplessis, of which this is one of several replicas, is considered the best. 2 Lent by tbe Boston Athenaeum. 1 Franklin’s Works, edited by John Bigelow, v. VII, p. 96. 2 See McClure s Magazine, Jan., 1897, p. 269. FRENCH 1 77 French Painting in the Nineteenth Century A notable characteristic of the art of the nineteenth cen¬ tury is the enlargement of the range of subjects treated in painting. Gericault, followed by Delacroix (see p. 180) and the romantic school, reflecting the widespread unrest which led to the Revolutions of 1830 and 1848, substituted scenes from the novel, history, contemporary romance and tragedy for the academic subjects of David and the classicists. Delacroh Fromentin, and Decamps made known the life, and painted the brilliant colors of Algiers and the Levant. Influenced by Constable and Bonington in England, Rousseau, Corot (see p. 179), Daubigny, Diaz (see the pic¬ ture called “The Descent of the Bohemians”) and Dupre added the vast domain of landscape painting to art. Others like Troyon painted animals with landscape. With them at Barbizon was Millet, a peasant from Cherbourg, who painted the peasant at his work. Millet once wrote: “De¬ void though the peasant’s toil may be of joyousness, it nevertheless stands, not only for true human nature, but also for the loftiest poetry. ” (See pp. 181—183.) The most radical departure of the century came after 1850 with those artists, later known as the Impressionists, among whom Manet was the pioneer and Monet the most consistent exponent. Manet said, “The principal person in a picture is the light,” and these artists rendered light, the light of the air, the light of every object and its reflections on other objects, and so accomplished their picture. The end of the century has welcomed paintings which depict the life of the laborer in all its phases; every side of life has been touched with beauty. There has been an in¬ crease in mural decoration; and portraiture, which has produced great works all through the century, still continues its activity. 178 PICTURES Portrait of the Marquis de Pastoret. Chancellor of France , 1829 Paul Delaroclie, 1797-1856 Delaroche is principally known by his historical pic¬ tures and by his mural painting decorating the hemi- cycle of the Academy of the Beaux Arts in Paris. This portrait shows him a master also in portraiture. The fea¬ tures of the dreamy, melancholy countenance are studied with the conscientiousness of a primitive painter. The portrait was probably painted in 1829, when the Marquis had just been made Chancellor of France. French 179 Dante and Virgil J. B. C. Corot, 1796-1875 Corot’s art, a highly poetical interpretation of nature, depicts the most subtle atmospheric effects, such as the falling light of evening or the moment just before sunrise, which is the time chosen for this picture. Dante is lost in a dark wood and is rescued by Virgil from a lion, a leopardess, and a she-wolf, who bar his way. ( Inferno , canto I.) PICTURES 180 Pieta, painted 1848 F. V. Eugene Delacroix, 1798-1868 This pieta is conceived in the spirit which marked Dela¬ croix as the most important figure in the Romantic move¬ ment. Though dark, it is rich in color, and it was consid¬ ered by the painter one of his most beautiful works. Dela¬ croix was among the first of the French painters of the nineteenth century to revive the religious subject, which had been banished from French art by the Revolution and the classicism of David. FRENCH 1 81 The Sower J. F. Millet, 1814-1875 This picture was among the first fruits of Millet’s residence at Barbizon, and was exhibited in the Salon of 1851. Millet afterward painted the replica now preserved in the Vanderbilt Collection in New York. The Sower walks with a rhythmic step. . . He is bony, wan, and lean, . . nevertheless life issues from his large hand, and with a superb movement he who has nothing scatters upon the earth the bread of the future. ” 182 PICTURES FRENCH Prim,roues J. F. Millet, 1814-1875 It is in part to Millet’s disappointment over the chilling reception at first given his paintings that the world owes the wealth of drawings from his hand. His unsparing portraiture of the laborious life of the peasant led some critics to believe him indifferent to the charms of the country. Writing to a friend Millet replied : I find far more than charms. I find infinite splendors. I see as well as they do the little flowers of which Christ said, ‘ Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.’ .” This pastel is an illustration of his words. 184 PICTURES Hunting the Roebuck in the. High Jura: The Quarry Gustave Courbet ., 1819-1877 Notwithstanding the low pitch in which this picture is painted, it is of unique force. Courbet was an ardent hunter, and ‘ La Curee ” has been called ‘ an episode of the hunt in the governmental forest of Levier. ” The horn is sounding the Hallali and Courbet himself is listening. The picture conveys in various ways a vivid message of calm after tumult. The fancied echoes of the horn seem to break an absolute stillness among the evenly planted trees. FRENCH 185 L’Imminence Grise, painted 1874 1 c I c3 ' -Q - S> 1 >>¥ j -rj 0) C ^ ."2 so® _ o m, “ Mi i -c _ o gj 2 a S c ^ O ' o . U a 3 30) Golov bew Collection INDIAN ART 289 Malik ‘A mbar. Abyssinian leader of the Marathas. Mughal Early XVII. century. School of Jahangir Ross-Coomaraswamy Collection 290 INDIAN ART W0^§‘ Mill Falcon, by Ustad Mansur. Mughal, XVII. century. School of Jahangir Goloubew Collection INDIAN ART 291 Jahangir About 1616-1620 Ross-Coomaraswamy Collection Gold necklaces, one with rubies Southern India and Ceylon Nathurst Collection 292 INDIAN ART Hug Mughal , early XVII. century Probably made in Lahore or Delhi Ames Collection Gold Brocade (Ximkhwah) Indian, XVII . century Probably from Aurangabad 294 INDIAN ART Tara: from manuscript of the Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita Nepal. XII. century CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART The objects illustrated on the following pages are a representative choice from the Museum collection. All can be seen at any time, either in the galleries devoted to the type of art they represent or upon application at the Office of the Department (C and J in the plan on the next page). In order to show the collection more completely than is possible at any one time the exhibits in the galleries are frequently changed. LATER UKIYOE Main Floor C Sf J indicates the afire of the Department CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART 297 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART O NE unfamiliar with the art of the extreme Orient is likely, when first brought face to face with the work of some Chinese or Japanese master, to find but little that appeals deeply to him. He will recognize, perhaps, a certain charm of line, color, or composition, little dreaming that what is before him may be a subtle exposition of cosmic philos¬ ophy wherein every detail is full of significance; for the art of the East delights rather in suggesting the inner spirit of things than in reproducing their mere outward forms. Even as the pictured antagonism between the tiger and the dragon represents the Taoist conception of the eternal struggle between matter and spirit, or as the great circle, wherein sits the immovable figure of Dai-Nichi, teaches the Buddhist doctrine of all-con¬ taining Oneness, so the simple ink sketch of a sprig of bamboo, by some Zen monk, implied the equal impor¬ tance of least and greatest in the infinite rhythm of the Universe. Again, so different from ours are the conventions of the Oriental artist that the ‘queerness” of everything at first overshadows all else. Yet, if the beholder is not too young, he may remember how in the days before the development of instantaneous photography people laughed at the impossible” attitudes assumed by the pictured steeds of China and Japan, while they themselves represented the galloping horse as poised above the ground, with legs stiffly stretched behind and before. A spirit of reflection once aroused, further 298 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART comparisons will suggest themselves, and, as the first effect of strangeness begins to wear off, the inquirer will find himself discovering so many new terms of truth that before long he will wonder whether after all his own art is so immeasurably superior to that before him. Every mode of art is the result of civilization influ¬ enced by the peculiar genius of a people. In the light of modern research it seems possible that the earliest high state of civilization and consequent art expression was developed among those nations living in the region east of what is now known as Asia Minor, whence the impulse spread in different directions to meet with special modes of refinement in Egypt, Greece, Meso¬ potamia, India, and China, from the latter of which countries it found its way to Korea and Japan. During the early centuries of the Christian era there was constant intercourse between I ndia and China along the great caravan routes of Central Asia, and thus the teachings of Gautama found their way to China and inspired the philosophy of the latter country with the religious fervor of the former. From this combination was developed in the T ang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907) an art equalling that of the early Italian Renaissance in its spirit of adoration, but one in which the naive rendering of a few subjects was replaced by the pre¬ sentment of philosophic conceptions whose least detail was full of symbolic meaning. This was the golden age of Chinese art and literature culminating in the exquisite refinement of the Sung Dynasty, A.D. 960-1280. The very splendor of Sung, however, proved fatal. The cupidity of chose same wild Mongol tribes, who were soon to trample the ancient glory of India beneath the hoofs of their shaggy steeds, became excited, and by the beginning of the thirteenth century China lay writhing beneath a con¬ queror's heel. Thenceforth, save for a temporary CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART 299 revival during the Native Ming Dynasty, 1368—1644, at which time and during the first part of the following Ch'ing Dynasty the art of decorating porcelain reached perhaps its greatest perfection, the glory of China has been to a large extent a glory of the past. An agricultural people, living in a once highly fertile land, the Chinese have from time immemorial been, subject, to raids from the fierce nomad tribes inhabiting the great steppes to the North. The conquerors gen¬ erally settled down after their victories, and gradually became assimilated to the manners and customs of their more civilized subjects only to be in their turn overwhelmed by a fresh inroad from the North. The vicissitudes attendant on these invasions, together with the damage'done by numerous great floods, have left but few examples of the early art of China, mostly bronze vessels and ceremonial jade implements, which, buried with the dead, have remained protected by the earth till dug up by some later generation. The early bronzes, some of them perhaps dating back two thou¬ sand years before Christ, are generally of massive and dignified form, decorated in moulded relief with dragon monsters and conventional cloud, and other forms. Other vessels are themselves fashioned in the forms of animals or birds (see plate, p. 357)- The early jade and other stone objects which have come down to us are also nearly all of ceremonial quality, many of the pieces reproducing the form of agricultural or warlike implements, as well as mystic emblems connected with the worship of nature (see plate, p. 860). The grave pottery of the Han Dynasty (206 B. C.~ 221 A. D.) seems generally to follow in style bronze forms; its decoration becomes less conventional and abounds in hunting scenes among the mountains, etc. It is covered with a dark green glaze reminiscent of the patina induced on bronze by the action of copper salts (see plate, p. 865). 3oo CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART From the fourth century A. D. forward Buddhism, which since about the beginning of the Christian era had been slowly filtering into China from the Indian frontier, became a living influence, and a new school of art was developed at the hands of those artists and artisans who followed in the steps of the Indian apostles to furnish and adorn the newly-erected temples. This Indian art, revelling in brilliant color and voluptuous lines, received later at the hands of the more restrained Chinese a dignity and impressiveness which it had hitherto lacked, and so evolved an ideal type compa¬ rable with, though differing from, that of Greece during her period of highest achievement (see plates, pp. 313 and 325 ). At this time communication between Persia and China over the great trade routes of the North became intimate, and much of Persian influence became apparent in Chinese decoration. Every fresh impulse of Chinese thought or expression found its echo on the shores of Japan, there to receive the subtle refinement of native genius and to be pre¬ served long after its memory had perished in the land of its birth. Tims the earlier art history of both countries may best be studied side by side. Buddhism first reached Japan at the beginning of the so-called Suiko period, 550-700, and the sculpture of this era follows the style of contemporary Chinese Art, being of a decidedly Indian type modified by Chinese ideas. Soon, however, the innate Japanese love of beauty became dissatisfied with purely abstract representations and began to soften the rigidity of outline and to add a certain character of tenderness peculiar to the national consciousness. The following Nara period, 700-800, witnessed in Japan, as in China, the production of a vast amount of sculpture, including the great seated bronze Buddha of Todaiji, fifty-four feet in height, in which the be¬ lievers sought, according to the then prevalent trend CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART 301 of thought throughout the Buddhist world, to embody an idea of the supreme unity of the cosmos in colossal and calmly meditating representations of the Blessed One.” The development of the idea of union between spirit and matter led, during the Jogan period, 794—900, to the representation of different attributes of the all- producing Godhead as separate emanations. Thus was created a pantheon of symbolical conceptions, which, by their nearer approach to human kind, gained in vigor while losing some of the solemnity of the earlier works. In the Fujiwara period, 900—1190, Japan, having assimilated the teachings of the continent, began to evolve an art and culture more nationally distinctive. With a return to ancient modes of thought, including the idealization of womanhood, the gods became almost maternal, and, in their infinite mercy and compassion, granted salvation to even the weakest. The paintings and sculpture of this period are characterized by great delicacy of line and color, accompanied by the lavish use of gold as representing the yellow light of Paradise. Such conceptions, however, sapped the virility of the court, with the result that the effeminate nobility left the enforcement of authority throughout the country to despised provincial governors. The governors, pro¬ totypes of the daimyo of a succeeding age, soon usurped all power, and through their mutual jealousies and struggles almost brought about a condition of anarchy. Out of this turmoil arose the commanding figure of Minamoto Yoritomo, who, aided by his chivalrous brother Yoshitsune, seized the chief power, under the title of Shogun, great genera!,” and in 1190 fixed his capital at Kamakura. During the T'ang (A. D. 618-90?) and Sung (960~1280) Dynasties, Taoist and Neo-Confucian ten¬ dencies of thought had brought to the fore in China 302 CHINESE AND JAPANESE AUT the Zen sect of Buddhism, which, discarding ritual, sought salvation through self-concentration and medi¬ tation. This school endeavored to establish direct communion with the inner spirit of things, regardless of their external accessories, and deemed the least atom as equal in importance to the greatest god in the cosmic unity, a conception which had a vast effect on contemporary art and gave birth to those simple ink sketches whose slightest stroke is replete with meaning. This was the great era of landscape paint¬ ing, which no longer remained subsidiary to some figure or incident portrayed, but became an end in itself and produced those delightful and poetic sketches in which the Sung masters, true impressionists, give us the echo of a distant temple bell or the soft hush that comes before the snow (see plates, pp. 331 and 332). During the wars which in Japan ushered in the Kamakura epoch, 1190-1337, there was developed a spirit of individualism and hero-worship which, together with the introduction of Zen modes of thought and the establishment of a system of military feudalism, had a great effect upon contemporary art. This was the great age of portraiture both in sculpture and painting, when even the gods assumed more individualized char¬ acteristics, and artists delighted in representing the stress of battle and the achievements of famous war¬ riors and saints (see plates, pp. 318 and 335). To overawe the populace, we now first find paintings of the horrors of hell, executed with the same strength of delineation and vigorous spirit of action which characterizes the other work of this period. Owing to the steady growth of Zenism, with its subjective idealism and search after the inner spirit of things, the Ashikaga period, 1337~1582, is marked by the general elimination of color and detail from paint¬ ing. The great Ashikaga masters, like Sesshu and his illustrious host of followers, in their enthusiasm for CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART 303 simplicity, preferred the natural beauties of a bird or a flower to those of subjects more overlaid by circum¬ stance (see plate, p. 336). From now on painting truly becomes writing (the Japanese use the same word for the two arts), and a pictured scene becomes rather an essay or poem than a representation. The search for hidden beauty in all things caused even the great¬ est artists of this period eagerly to apply their genius to the design and decoration of the humblest household utensils. In carrying out the idea of hidden beauty, they often concealed their finest work beneath a com¬ paratively plain exterior, a practice which has to some extent survived till the present day. The feudal barons of the Ashikaga period were con¬ stantly warring one with another, each striving to obtain supreme control of the government. Out of this state of chaos arose the figure of Toyotomi Hide- yoshi, a man of the humblest origin, who, by his Napoleonic genius, became in 1582 virtual ruler over a unified Japan. Like most parvenus, he and his en¬ nobled generals sought in their palaces for gorgeous effects, often replacing the sober refinement of the Ashikaga decoration by a wealth of gold and brilliant color. In conformance with the taste of his patrons, Eitoku and his army of pupils studied the models brought back by Hideyoshi’s generals on their return from Korea, and upon their own native golden screens enthusiastically produced gorgeous palace scenes after the fashion of the Ming Academy, bountiful of color and exuberant of spirit (see plate, p. 340). Affected by the spirit of the times, Koetsu (d. 163?) and his great followers, Sotatsu (middle seventeenth century) and Korin (d. 1716), established the school commonly known as that of Korin. This school sought to combine the rich coloring of pre-Ashikaga days with the bold treatment of the Zen school, and, anticipating the French impressionists by two centuries, depended 304 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART for its effects rather on broad masses of color than on line (see plate, p. 343). After the death of Hideyoshi, Iyeyasu, the greatest of the daimios, founded the Tokugawa Shogunate, and through his Machiavellian skill in statecraft insti¬ tuted a complicated system of control which enabled his descendants peacefully to retain the Shogunate until the Restoration of 1868. Under the encouragement of Iyeyasu and his imme¬ diate successors, Kano Tanyu and his followers endeav¬ ored to return to the purity of the Ashikaga masters, but with only partial success, for the spirit of the times was against them, and the new nobility and rising middle class demanded something more decorative and easily understood than the spiritual concepts of Zen philosophy. In response to this demand there arose a more democratic school, and Sanraku (l559-1636), gifted successor of Eitoku, Itcho (1651-1724), and many another skilled painter employed their brushes in depicting popular festivals and other everyday inci¬ dents, thus preparing the way for the Ukiyo-e, or school of common life. After centuries, during which the various great feudal princes had been almost constantly at war with each other, came the long Tokugawa peace ” and the rise of the commons to positions of wealth and ease. These people demanded an art which they could understand, and in response to their call many Kano and other artists began depicting the popular festivals and customs of the day with all the technical skill and tradition of their art heritage. In connection with this movement the art of printing in colors from wooden blocks was brought to a high state of per¬ fection, but as later artists of the school, with a few notable exceptions, in accordance with the popular demand, turned their attention for the most part to the portrayal of popular actors and beauties of CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART 305 the Yoshiwara, their work narrowed and finally came to an end amid the general upheaval attendant on the Restoration of 1868. In the middle of the eighteenth century there arose in Kyoto a realistic school, which owed its inspiration partly to the inception of a similar movement in China and partly to a direct study of European models. Under such masters as Okyo, 1733—1795, and Ganku, 1749-1838, this school produced many delicate and graceful compositions, which, however, sometimes lacked the conviction inherent in the works of the Ashikaga and Toyotomi masters (see plate, p. 344). Amid the turmoil of the Restoration of 1868 and the subsequent indiscriminate enthusiasm for every¬ thing Occidental, Japan for a while regarded her native art and its ideals as necessarily inferior to those of the countries whose scientific and mechanical tri¬ umphs she so greatly admired. Gradually however, after a more intimate acquaintance with the West, the people of Japan are beginning to realize that in some respects their own ancient civilization by no means suffers in comparison with that of Europe and America, and many artists, adopting from foreign practice such aids as seem to them desirable, are again seeking inspiration from the ideals of their own early masters. F. G. C. Bibliography. — W. Anderson, Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of a Collection of Japanese and Chinese Paintings in the British Museum, London, 1886 ; H. A. Giles, Introduc¬ tion to the History of Chinese Pictorial Art , Shanghai, 1905 ; E. F. Strange, Japanese Illustration, History of the Arts of Wood-Carving and Colour Printing in Japan, London, 1897, and Japanese Colour Prints, London, 1904 ; W. von Seidlitz, Geschichte des Japanischen Farbenholzschnitts, Dresden, 1897 (English translation, London, 1910); the Catalogues of the Exhibitions of Japanese Prints held at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, 1909, 1910, 1911 ; S. W. Bushell, Chinese Art, 2 vols., London, 1904; A. Morrison, The Painters of Japan, CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART 306 2 vols.; E. Eenollosa, Epochs of Chinese and Japanese Art, New York (n. d.); O. Kiimmel, Kunstgewerbe in Japan, Berlin, 1911; M. A. Stein, Ancient Khotan, 2 vols., Oxford, 1907; E. Chavannes, La Sculpture sur Pierre en Chine, Paris, 1893; Mission Archeologique dans la Chine Septentionale, Paris, 1909-13; Havell, Indian Sculpture and Painting, London, 1908, and The Ideals of Indian Art; B. Laufer, Chinese Pottery of the Han Dynasty, Leiden, 1909, Jade, A Study in Chinese Archceology and Religion, Chicago, 1912; Illustrated Cata¬ logue of Early Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1910; Japanese Temples and Their Treasures, Tokyo, 1910; and Histoire de L' Art du Japon, Paris, 1900; Okakura- Kakuzo, Ideals of the East with Especial Reference to the Art of Japan, second edition. New York, 1907; The Awakening of Japan, New York, 1904; The Book of Tea, New York, 1906; M. Anesaki, Buddhist Art in its Relation to Buddhist Ideals, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1915; Ars Asiatica, Etudes et documents publics sous la direction de Victor Goloubew, Paris, 1912-14; A. Brockhaus, Netsuke, Versuch einer Geschichte der jupanischen Schnitzkunst (second edition), Leipzig, 1909; L. Binyon, Painting in the Far East, London, 1913; R. Petrucci, Les Caracteristiques de la PeintureJaponaise,Revuede V Universite de Bruxelles, Nos. 4-5, 1907; Philosophic de la Nature dans 1'Art d'Extreme-Orient, Paris, 1910. The Library of the Department is adequately provided with related books in the Chinese and Japanese languages. CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART 307 Sculpture The earliest examples of Chinese stone sculpture known to us date from the Han period, B. C. 206~A. D. 221. They are, for the most part, in the form of thickish slabs of gray limestone decorated on one side with chiselled drawings of semi-legendary scenes, and were used as sheathing for the small anti-vaults and more imposing pillars built to mark the graves of important people. Of these slabs the Museum possesses several specimens which may be attributed to the second cen¬ tury of our era. The designs they bear are executed in broad outline, with so little suggestion of relief modelling that they seem to be more nearly related to painting than to sculpture. They are, moreover, char¬ acteristically Chinese — quite unaffected, apparently, either in motive or in technique, by the religious ideas and arts which had found their way from Buddhist India to China at least one hundred years before the date assumed for these slabs. Three centuries later, however, the influence of Buddhism was already widely disseminated among the Chinese, and was everywhere stimulating the production of monumental sculpture in the round — a form of artistic expression for which the Chinese seem never before to have felt any great need. In the Museum’s numerous collection of Buddhist and Taoist sculpture this striking development of what was practically a new art in China may be ade¬ quately followed throughout the period of its greatest activity,-—from the fifth to the ninth century,— special attention being merited by the seated figure of Maitreya and the standing figure of Padmapani,— both of heroic size,— the wooden statue of a Bodhisattva and 3oS CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART the smaller marble statue of'a Bodhisattva,— each one typical of an important phase in this brilliant evolution. As examples of early Japanese sculpture there is a rather provincial but interesting wooden statue of K wan non, probably of the early Tempyo period (729-793), and a heroic standing Bodhisattva of the late Tempyo period, carved—with the exception of the arms, which are a later restoration—from a single block of wood. This figure follows late Six Dynasties and early Tang ideals, but with a certain softening of line and nearer approach to humanity peculiar to all Japanese translations from the Chinese. Another very fine example of the work of this period is a little bronze statue of a Kwannon in which dignity and tenderness are wonderfully combined, while the fol¬ lowing Jogan period (794—900) is represented by a number of specimens, among which is a classically Chinese wooden figure of Taishaku-ten (the gift of a member of the Department) once completely overlaid with a brilliant decoration of mitsudaso,” a mixture of oil, pigment, and white lead, of which traces re¬ main on the face, hands, and a few small portions of the robe. Among the Fujiwara pieces (900—1192) is a Dai-Itoku of the tenth century, whose triple head shows wonder¬ ful modelling, and a large Amida, whose calm, dispas¬ sionate serenity Avell expresses the trend of religious thought at that period. Among a number of Kamakura (1193—1392) pieces are two small figures of monks whose individuality stands forth strongly, and a dated (1322) Jizo, which well shows the closer approach, in this period of indi¬ vidualism and hero worship, of divine types toward those of humanity. In the Ashikaga (l393—1573) and Tokugawa (l603— 1808) periods representations of the gods became highly formalized, while the development of the iVo-drama, in which ancient heroes and semi-mythical CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART 309 characters related their philosophic and temporal adventures, called forth a school of mask carvers, perhaps the greatest ever known in the world’s his¬ tory, of whose work the Museum possesses some fine specimens. F. G. C. Bronze AUarpiece The Buddha Amitabha and Attendants Chinese, A. 1K 503 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART 310 Gift of Dr. D. W. Ross and Messrs. G. M. Lane, Alexander Cochrane, and G. R. White. CHINESE SCULPTURE 311 The Bodhisattva Maitreya Chinese, Early Fifth Century Height, 1.965 m. Given by Dr. Denman W. Ross in memory of Okakura-Kakuzo, late Curator of Chinese and Japanese Art at the Museum. 312 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART Padmapani Chinese, Late Sixth or Early Seventh Century Height, 2.490 rn. Accession by purchase. 1915 CHINESE SCULPTURE 313 Marble Bodhisattva Chinese, Seventh Century Excavated in Shensi. Accession by purchase. 1907. Wooden Statue of a Bodhisattva Japanese, Tempyo Period, A. 1>. 700-800 3H CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART JAPANESE SCULPTURE 315 Bronze Kwannon, Japanese, Tempyo Period, 700-800 Kwannon, spiritual son of Amida, the compassionate Bodhisattva whose tender pity towards all creation forbids his entering Nirvana until the utmost atom in the universe shall have gone before. Although gener¬ ally represented, especially in later art, as feminine in aspect, Kwannon was originally conceived as a youth approaching manhood . 3 1 6 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART Dai-Itoku, Wooden Sculpture, Japanese, Tenth Century Fujiwara Period, 900-1190 Dai-Itoku, one of the five Myo-o, or protectors of the people. JAPANESE SCULPTURE 317 Fudo Japanese, Fitjiwara Period, Twelfth Century The deity who, rising from the cleansing flame, cleaves through evil and binds desire. 318 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART Seishi, Wooden Sculpture {detail), late Thirteenth Century Kamakura Period, 1190-1337 The Bodhisattva, spiritual son of Amida, is repre¬ sented as paying reverence to a soul newly arrived in paradise. JAPANESE SCULPTURE 319 Jizo, Wooden Sculpture, bearing date 1322 Kamakura Period, 1190-1337 The merciful Bodhisattva, who travels through the worlds saving souls. In his right hand he holds the staff whose jangling rings warn all minute creatures from beneath his feet. In his left hand is the jewel of life. 320 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART A Patriarch of the IIosso Sect Japanese Wooden Sculpture, Kamakura Period, A.T). 1190-1337 JAPANESE MASKS 321 Japanese, “No” mask, signed Sukemitsu. Early eigh¬ teenth century. The “No” is a semi-religious opera dealing with historical and legendary incidents through a Buddhist interpretation. A Boy Ghost of Kawazu Japanese, “No” mask. Middle of the sixteenth oentury. The Spirit of the Pine Tree Japanese, “No” mask. Early sixteenth century. 322 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART Painting The oldest and one of the most beautiful and inter¬ esting pieces in the collection is a Hokke Mandara, representing the Buddha seated upon the ‘ Eagle Peak ” in the midst of an attendant concourse of Bodhisattva and Rakan, to whom he expounds the Mahayana principle. Although much of the back¬ ground and lower part of the picture has been de¬ stroyed, one finds in the figure of the “ Blessed One ” and his attendants the same calm sublimity of spirit and exquisite feeling for line which mark our famous marble torso of Kwannon, but in this case with the added glory of that color which the latter has lost, while a close study of the background yields us con¬ siderable insight to a feature of T ang painting hitherto little known. The celebrated album of Yuan Yuan, a scholar and expert of the eighteenth century, which has recently come into our possession, contains a number of little Tang and Sung paintings of exquisite quality, while in the roll of the Emperor Hui Tsung we have a wonderfully preserved example of the delicate drawing and fascinating color of a great artist following, accord¬ ing to tradition, the work of a T ang master. Besides the ten paintings of the Daitokuji Rakan set we have a complete set of sixteen Rakans by Lu Hsin-chung (Rikushinchu), with the artist’s signature in small characters upon the trunk of a pine tree in one of them. Among the Sino and Nepali-Tibetan paintings we have, one of them a Shaka, five pieces from a very fine and rare Yuan set of Rakans, taken from the Lamasery of the summer palace at its sacking in 1860, while of the Ming Academicians we have a number of notable examples, including a long roll Spring Festival,” attributed to Ch iu Ying, a fine mountain landscape by Lan Ying, and a deliciously delicate “Harp Player in a Pavilion ” by Ch iu Ying. PAINTING 323 The eight Fujiwara Buddhist paintings in the Japanese Collection are all of high quality, especially, perhaps, the great tenth century Bishamon Mandara, with its wonderful sweep of line and color, surely the original composition of a great master, while among the one hundred and thirty-three Buddhist paintings of the Kamakura period it would be strange indeed if there were not some of the highest order, full of the vigor and stern individualism of that warlike era. Of the Kamakura Romantic school we have a fragment from the famous Jigoku Zoshi or Hell scenes and one of the three famous rolls, formerly attributed to Sumi- yoshi Keion, which hold first rank among the battle pictures of Japan. Among the one hundred and eleven Ashikaga Bud¬ dhist paintings are many rich pieces, but the greatest talent of the day followed the triumphant march of Zen thought, and expressed itself mostly in the strong black and white impressionism of Sesshu and his noble following. Among the eighty-eight screens and paint¬ ings of this era in the Museum may be mentioned a Josetsu landscape from the Kobori Enshu Collection, a pair of monkey and bird screens painted by Sesshu at the age of seventy-two years, and a pair of monkey screens formerly attributed to Sesson, but now proved to be part of the same set of which the Miyoshinji Temple possesses two examples mounted as kakemono and known to be the work of Tohaku. Of the Post Ashikaga Idealistic and early Kano schools we have fine specimens of nearly all the great masters, together with several splendid pairs of golden flower screens by Sotatsu, the far-famed wave screen ” of Korin, and other smaller paintings by these artists and their followers. The long Tokugawa Peace,” 1603-1868, witnessed a period of luxury during which the Kano Academy, the latter Tosa school, Kyoto Naturalists, the new Ukiyo-e school, and others, vied 3 2 4 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART with each other in the quality and quantity of then- artistic output, fine specimens of which, by the best masters of the day, may be freely found among the many pieces in the Museum. Owing to the great size of the collection, even with greatly added facilities for exhibition, the Department will never be able to put before the public at any one time more than a very small proportion of its treasures ; it will, however, be always ready to receive visitors at its executive office, and to show them, under such regulations as are necessary, any further paintings which they may desire to see. F. G. C CHINESE PAINTING 325 Bodhisattva, detail from the '‘ II ok ke Mandara ” Painting in lull color on silk, probably Chinese of the T'ang Dynasty, A. D. 618-907. 326 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART The Arhant (Lohan J Darblia MalU-putra ascending to the sky in contemplation of water and fire By Chon Chi-chang (Shu Ki-jo) and Lin Ting-kuei (Bin Tei-keiJ Chinese , 'Twelfth Century CHINESE PAINTING 327 Chinese Buddhist Painting by Lu Hsin-chung (Rikn Shin-ehu) Early Thirteenth Century A Lohan beside a lotus pond, sitting in contempla¬ tion beneath a willow tree. One of a set of sixteen, in full color on silk. 328 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART Shaka, full color on canvas Sino-Tibetan, Fourteenth Century The Museum possesses five of this set* CHINESE PAINTING 3 2 9 Dai Nichi, full color on silk Japanese, Fujiwara Period Late Eleventh Century 33o CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART Detail from Makimono “ Preparivff the, N’ew Silk ” Chinese, painted by the Emperor Hui Tsung, early twelfth century. Said to have been after the work of a T'ang master. Full color on silk. CHINESE PAINTING 33i 332 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART Winter Landscape attributed to Fan Ku an Chinese, early Sung, Tenth Century CHINESE PAINTING 333 Fish. Ink Painting on Silk Chinese. Early Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644 Attributed to Lai An CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART . mm Waterfall Middle of the Ming Period, 1368-164A JAPANESE PAINTING 335 Detail from the Heiji Monogatari Roll, early Thirteenth Century Kamakura Period, 1190-1337 The roll is painted in full color on paper, and with the inscription is 24 feet long (see p. 302). 336 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART Left-hand screen: birds, pine trees, and waterfall, in ink. The pair of screens, of which this is one, in monochrome, was painted by Sesshu in 1492, when he was seventy-two years old. JAPANESE PAINTING 337 Landscape Ashikaga Period. 1337-1582 Painting on paper in ink, with slight color. School of Motonobu, 1477-1559. CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART Falcmi an a Rock Ashikaga Period , 1337-1582 In monochrome, on paper, by Kaihoku-Yusho, 1532- 1615. JAPANESE PAINTING 339 I s One of a pair of screens in monochrome. 340 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART JAPANESE PAINTING 341 Painting on paper in monochrome, by Kano Tanyu, 1602-1674, showing’ Confucius attended by his disciples Ganshi and Shoshi. 342 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART Impressionist Landscape Kano School, Seventeenth Century Tokugawa Period, 1603-1868 Painted in monochrome on paper, by Hokkyo Shokei. r-s, VO 1 3 J f § 1 1 * e J 8 S £ g s S ^ 60 £ It i S cS &, 3 JAPANESE PAINTING An admirable example of the bold decorative treatment of the Koetsu school. 344 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART Light color on silk, wttBUm JAPANESE PAINTING 345 Pea Fowl School of Soshiseki, Eighteenth Century Tokugawa Period, 1603-1868 Full color on silk, probably by Soshiseki's Soshizan, 1732-1805. son 346 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART 7>g er 'l'okugawa Period, 1603-1868 Painted by Ganku, 1749-1838, who founded the Kishi School. In monochrome, on silk; slight suggestion of color. JAPANESE PAINTING 347 Cormorant Nishiyama lio-en Middle Nineteenth Century 348 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART A youth having his hair dressed Painted by Hishikawa Moronobu (1625-1695J Japanese , Ukiyo-e School JAPANESE PAINTING 349 Japanese Prints In Japan engraved wood-blocks were employed for the purpose of multiplying Buddhist images in outline as early as 844, the art having been introduced from China at a somewhat earlier date. 1 The first known Japanese printed picture of a secular subject may be assigned to the twelfth century, though in this instance the printing was only intended as a guide for the further application of ink and color. It is, however, not until about 1660 2 that prints illustrative of popular themes began to be produced in single sheets as inex¬ pensive substitutes for paintings of the genre school, which by this date had become firmly and independ¬ ently established under the name of the Ukiyo-e, or “ Pictures of the Fleeting World.” The development of this school, which in the West is best represented by the prints, has covered nearly three hundred years, and may be divided into (l) the period during which artists of repute devoted themselves to painting popular subjects under the patronage of the powerful and the wealthy ; ( 2 ) the period when prints gradually made their appearance as substitutes for the contemporary genre paintings which had become more plebeian in motive and in quality; ( 3 ) the period beginning with the full development of wood block printing and end¬ ing with its complete degeneration, during which the artists of the Ukiyo-e, catering to the masses, designed almost exclusively for prints. These prints, produced, generally speaking, by com¬ mercial houses to supply the demands of popular taste, naturally treated of themes which were popularly 'The records show that Buddhist scriptures were printed from wood-blocks in China as long ago as 593, and in Japan in 750. 2 The first publication of wood-block prints in single sheets depicting current events may with certainty be assigned to the early seventeenth century. 350 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART appreciated — familiar plays, celebrated actors, famous courtesans, noted scenery, current events, etc.,— in fact, almost every phase of nature and of the pictur¬ esque life amid which the common people moved. The technical development of the Japanese color- print may be roughly traced through the following- stages: Sumizuri (prints solely in black and white), Tan-e (black and white prints to which tan or red oxide of lead also was applied by hand, occasionally supplemented by yellow, green, or brown), Beni-e 1 (hand-colored prints in which two or more colors are used, beni or rouge being their principal feature, with frequent use of brass Hakes), Urushi-e (prints chiefly distinguished by adding to beni-e masses of lustrous black produced by the use of a thick pigment over¬ laid with a coating of glue and resembling the black lacquer or urushi surface), Irozuri 2 (prints exhibiting chiefly beni and green printed from wood-blocks), and Nishiki-e (polychromatic wood-block prints). To appreciate Japanese prints one must bear in mind that they were produced through the combined efforts of three individuals, —the designer, the wood-block carver, and the printer, — all of whom worked more or less under the control of the publishers. The Museum possesses a large and comprehensive collection of Japanese prints principally from the Bigelow Collection, greatly augmented by the Ross Collection; and though only a small portion is shown in the galleries at one time, the remainder is accessible to students in the Department Study, where literature on the subject, including contemporary illustrated books, may be consulted. K. T. 1 The general tendency in the present day is to apply the term beni-e to the variety of prints here classed as irozuri. However, in accordance with old records and on the strength of evidence presented by the prints themselves, we adhere to the above definition. 2 Though this may be too broad a term, it is here adopted for lack of a better one; such a use is not without foundation. JAPANESE PAINTING 351 Two Women in a Spring Breeze (Harunobu 1725-1770) 352 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART Musashino, the Moor of Musaslii Province Signature. Utamaro hitsu; Publisher, Tsutar-ya By Kitagawa Utamaro (1754-1806) Women carrying lanterns and fans are searching the moorland for an eloping couple, here shown in the left-hand panel. In the background a huge moon is rising. JAPANESE PAINTING 353 Japanese Print (hand colored ) by Kwaigetsudo Eighteenth Century 354 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART Set/a nia Kikunojo IT as O-IIatsu Ichikawa Yaozo 11 as Tokubei Color prints designed by Buvcho, circa 1760-1780 Japanese Ukiyo-e School The Minor Arts In China and Japan, as elsewhere, the minor and applied arts echo the aims and ideals expressed in sculpture and painting, and quite as definitely show their derivation and inter-relation. Thus the surface of a sword guard may remind us of the Zen tenet that the least atom is of cosmic importance, and the carving of a netsuke emphasize the debt — honorably acknowl¬ edged and nobly acquitted — which the Japanese owe to the older life of China. JAPANESE PAINTING 355 The oldest remains of Chinese civilization which we know are bronzes and jades. They are vessels, coins, and implements of various kinds, which have lasted partly because of the durable material of which they are made, partly because since prehistoric times the Chinese have regarded them as precious. The Museum collection of bronzes carries us very far back into the life of the Chinese, and illustrates the beauty of the forms and designs which the Chinese so loved that they echoed and re-echoed them through succeeding ages of development. Together with such jades as the Museum possesses,— ceremonial implements, insignia of rank, precious objects for intimate use,— they indi¬ cate a great and established richness of life in ancient China. Bronze and pottery seem to be the only productions of the minor arts in Korea that are worth while, and in both kinds the derivation seems distinctly traceable to China. Only in pottery did the Koreans apparently do anything remarkably distinctive; they produced a gray-green ware and a green-toned white, which show a high appreciation for a certain delicate beauty. Of the minor arts of Japan wood and ivory carving, sword smithing, metal working, lacquering, and pottery making were developed to a high degree. In all of these the Japanese have excelled, though in no other directions have they gone so far in a way of their own as in the making of swords and sword furniture and in the use and adaptation of lacquer. The prescriptions of the feudal system, the gradual formalizing of social customs, the deliberate withdrawal from all distracting alien influences fostered such a development, with the result that the artists in metal and lacquer grew into an understanding of their media and a power of handling them within prescribed limits that produced works of surpassing quality. F. S. K. 356 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART Bronze Bell. Not later than the Tenth Century B. C. Probably used in connection with sacrificial worship of Heaven. CHINESE BRONZE 357 Chinese Bronze Tsun Chinese Bronze Chio Circa B. C. 1000 Circa B. C. 1000 Chinese Bronze I Circa B. C. 800 358 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART Chinese Bronze Mirror (reverse side) The design is an arrangement in concentric spaces about the large knob, of leaf-like ornaments, nipples, the seven divine figures, birds, fishes, and beasts. The east¬ ing is remarkable; it was probably done at the skang-fang , the imperial foundry, in the Han Dynasty (206 B»C.~ 221 A.D.). CHINESE BRONZE 359 Chinese Bronze Hsi, with inscription giving date A. D, lJfl T'ang Mirror. The large central design shows two phoenixes on clouds symmetri¬ cally placed, and two ornaments as settings for char¬ acters which read one thousand autumns” and signify longevity. The border shows conventional clouds, lotus sprays, and four “jewels.” Bronze Mirror {reverse side) Chinese, T'ang Dynasty 360 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART Chinese Jade Pi, an emblem of rank and symbol of heaven Circa B. C. 200 SWORD FURNITURE 361 Mounting of Upper Blade , late Fujiwara Design (Tokugawa v>orkmansliip) Mounting of Lower Blade, Tokugawa Design 362 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART Sword Guard (Iron) Myochin Style Late Eighteenth Century Sword Guard (Iron) Signed Myochin Muneyoslii Design of fireflies and grasses in sha¬ hid 0 (a composi¬ tion of gold and copper), copper, and gold, on iron, by Itsuriuken Mi- boku, a celebrated artist of the Nara School, 1695-1769. Design of stone lanterns in silver, Japanese Sword Furniture, Kozuka Hilts shibuichi (composi¬ tion of silver and copper), and gold, on shakudd, by At- suoki, who worked in Kyoto about 1840-1860. Otsuki school. LACQUER 363 Japanese Gold Lacquer Ink-box in Shape of Fan Probably by a Kyoto Artist Late Eighteenth Century 364 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART Japanese Lacquer Inro (Medicine Boxes'), to be worn suspended from the Girdle Inro. Rice-boats floating on the water. Applied lead and mother-of-pearl. Signed Koma-Kwansai. Prob¬ ably the second Kwansai, early nineteenth century. Black lacquer, with porcelain toys applied. Signed Haritsu, eighty-four years old,” 1664—1747. Crows in autumn forest. Signed Kajikawa. Prob¬ ably the second Kajikawa, about the middle of the seventeenth century. CHINESE POTTERY 365 Chinese Pottery. Han Dynasty, 206 B. C,-220 A. D. Green glaze; on the cover are Hunting Scenes among Mountains Chinese Pottery Pottery may be identified as having a more or less porous body, opaque, and varying from soft friability to the hardness of porcelain. In China, as in many other countries, it was made before the dawn of history. The practice of glazing it, and thus rendering it imper¬ vious to water, dates in China as far back, probably, as the second century B. C. So far as we know, the first glaze used by Chinese potters was thin and green, and the clay invested with this glaze was generally reddish in color. During the following twelve centu¬ ries Chinese potters gradually refined the clay and 366 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART invented new glazes,— white, blue, and green, in various tones, black, and celadon,— until, in the Sung Dynasty, their wares reached great fineness and beauty of form and glaze. From a time long before the use of glaze Chinese pottery has been decorated with designs modelled in low relief or incised in the clay. In the Sung Dynasty the potters began to use over-glaze decoration; but so far as extant examples may serve to guide us, the beauty of Chinese pottery remained, through this and the two succeeding dynasties, in the form, in the incised or modelled decoration, and in the glaze. Chinese Tottery Vessel from a Grave Six Dynasties CHINESE POTTERY 367 Horse, glazed Pottery, Tang Dynasty Chinese Pottery Jar, Tang Dynasty CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART 36S The j ar on the previous page is an early example of pottery made for domestic, not burial, purposes. The beautiful incised decoration is distinctively T'ang. The potting and the glazing show the high degree of skill attained by Chinese potters a thousand years ago. Camel, glazed Pottery, T'ang Dynasty Figures of men and animals, and models of houses, utensils, and the like, have been buried with the Chinese dead apparently since early in the Han Dynasty, B. C. 206-A. D. 220. The horse and the camel illustrated are made of very soft white clay moulded in several parts, which were originally held together by slip and the glaze. They are fine examples of the best work of this kind from the T'ang Dynasty, 018—907 A. D F. S. K. CHINESE PORCELAIN 369 Porcelain Bowl Citing Dynasty Chinese Porcelain Porcelain—the hard, translucent, thoroughly vitrified ware—was first made in China. For centuries its pat¬ terns and colors influenced the pottery of both Europe and Western Asia, but not until the eighteenth century was it successfully imitated in Europe. It is said that the first porcelain was produced in the effort of the potters to imitate the appearance of jade, which is so greatly ad¬ mired by the Chinese. Many literary references testify to the beauty of the early porcelain, but few if any ex¬ isting specimens go back further than the Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644. The history of Chinese porcelain is the history of the Imperial factory at Ching-te-chen, rebuilt in 1369 by the founder of the Ming Dynasty. Its period of greatest splendor was within the reign of the Emperor K'ang Hsi, 1662-1722, when the earlier porcelain glazes and designs were reproduced and new ones in¬ vented. The brilliant colors and bold decoration of this period were refined and weakened within the following century, and in part supplanted by a naturalistic floral decoration with carefully finished details in over-glaze pigment and enamels. Since the eighteenth century the art of porcelain-making has lost its high distinction. F. S. K. 370 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART L -l - _ ■ Chinese Porcelain K'ang-hsi Period(1662-1722) CHINESE PORCELAIN 371 Chinese Porcelain Vase, Height SO in. K'ang Hsi Period ( 1662-1722) 372 CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART Chinese Tapestry About 1400 A. D. Fragment of a larger piece of the early Ming Dynasty, MORSE COLLECTION 373 The Morse Collection of Japanese Pottery V ARIOUS periods are recognized in the development of pottery in Japan. The prehistoric pottery ex¬ humed in various parts of the empire is found in the shell heaps scattered along the shores from Yezo in the north to Higo in the extreme south. The pottery is usually in fragments, entire vessels being rare. It is hand-made, decoration either cord marked or incised with curious vari¬ ations in form in different localities. As the Ainu occupied the entire land before the Japanese, it was naturally sup¬ posed that this early pottery was made by the Ainu, though there is no historic evidence that the Ainu ever made pottery. An art of this kind once acquired is never lost by a savage people. (Examples of this prehistoric pottery may be found on the two lower shelves in Case II.) Next comes the early historic pottery, lathe-turned, un¬ glazed and identical in form and purpose with Korean pottery of the same period. This pottery consists of mortu¬ ary vessels and is found in dolmens and mounds. It has an age of from twelve to fifteen hundred years. The first definite history of the potter’s art in Japan be¬ gins with the work of Toshiro in Seto in the thirteenth century, though fragments of green-glazed pottery have been dug up in Omi to which a famous expert ascribed an age of nine hundred years. In the ancient storehouse at Nara a soft green-glazed pottery is preserved which is known to be a thousand years old. This, however, is prob¬ ably Chinese. The formal ceremonies associated with the drinking of powdered tea exerted a lasting influence on the potter’s art and gave it that reserve and simplicity which is so char¬ acteristic of Japanese pottery. The collection of Japanese Pottery is exhibited in the room at the left of the entrance to the Museum. Each case is numbered to facilitate reference to the plate in the 374 JAPANESE POTTERY catalogue where the objects are described. The table with the catalogue may be rolled from case to case for purposes of study. In this collection is brought together the work of nearly every potter in Japan up to within thirty years, and the objects are arranged by provinces. If one will recall the pottery of the Baltic provinces he will remember that little or no distinction is seen in the work, each potter copying the forms and rude decorations of the others. The Black Forest potters, covering a wide area, again show nothing distinctive in their work. In Japan, on the contrary, a local pride prompted the potter, the lac- querer, and other artisans to produce something original either in form or decoration, so that the provinces are dis¬ tinctive, and the names of the provinces are often used in a generic way in designating the pottery, such as Satsuma, Bizen, Izumo, Kaga, Awaji, etc. After the provinces were brought together under a strong central government in 1868, provincial feeling still survived, and each province prided itself on special products, such as pottery, lacquer, textile fabrics, and the like. The strongly marked differ¬ ences between the dominant pottery of certain provinces may be seen by comparing the following cases: Hizen, 3, 4; Bizen, 5; Higo, 8; Nagato, 10; and many others. The Japanese potter derived certain methods of tech¬ nique from the Koreans, and for this reason a small collec¬ tion of Korean pottery has been brought together in Case I. The objects range in age from a thousand years and over to the present time. In Case 2 is a collection of early historic and prehistoric pottery of Japan. The casual visitor may enjoy the collection by simply noticing the remarkable qualities of glaze, the curious motives of design, the variety of form, and, above all, the reserve and sobriety shown in the decorative treatment. For sources of information, the work of amateur potters, motives of decoration, Korean influences, uses of objects and other details, reference must be made to the illustrated catalogue of the collection published in 1901. MORSE COLLECTION 375 Pottery of the Province oj Sanuki Morse Collection , Case 19 3/6 JAPANESE POTTERY Korin Pottery , Province of Hi go A fine example of Koda pottery. The glaze is gray; the design incised and filled with white clay. Height, 5 inches. Morse Collection. Case 8. MORSE COLLECTION 377 Bottle Takatori Pottery, Province of Chikuzen A good example of the freedom of the Japanese potter. A leaf design slashed in long strokes. The sides are in¬ dented for convenience of handling. Height, 12 inches. Morse Collection. Case 18. COLLECTION OF PRINTS (Fenway Entrance) (From the Huntington Avenue Building) Ground Floor Pr indicates the office of the Department COLLECTION OF PRINTS 381 1 J ay sage, Hirer Etching by Charles Jacque, 1813-1894 The resources of the collection of prints are difficult to illustrate, since half-tone reproductions, while presenting an apparent facsimile, fail to render the subtler qualities which constitute the charm and the value of prints. The illustrations are given merely to suggest a few of the numer¬ ous spheres of interest available. The collection was begun in 1872 by the gift of one print. To-day it holds a leading place among print collections in this country. The volume of material necessary to the usefulness of a collection of this kind forms an obstacle to its winning wide popular favor. Only a small fraction of the eighty thousand prints (approximately) which form the collection can be shown at any one time in the exhibition rooms. The visitor to the galleries is not aware of the great mass of material in the Print Rooms, ready to provide pleasure and information. A few words concerning the range of the collection will not be amiss. If one desires to hark back to early days of engraving, there is virile Mantegna sketching on copper his strong figures, instinct with dignified grandeur. Earlier yet are the great series of Sibyls and Prophets and the famous Tarocchi, while the goldsmith’s niello impressions offer some early experiments in printing from metal plates. The Museum is fortunate in possessing a number of these early prints. Turning to northern art, one visitor may 3 82 COLLECTION OF PRINTS prefer the spring-like purity of Schongauer’s engravings, or he may respond to the power of Diirer's expressive, forcible conceptions. The vigorous message of early German woodcuts may afford pleasure to some, while others will prefer the bold, broad treatment of Italian chiaroscuro, suggesting by graded tones the varied effects of the painter’s work. Raphael’s genius may be ap¬ proached through the medium of his faithful engraver, Marcantonio. The realism of seventeenth century art in the Netherlands offers an immense field in etching Besides the Flemish engravings of Bolswert, Pontius, and others of the Rubens school, there are the por¬ traits in Van Dyck’s famous ' Iconography,” there are Cornel Visscher’s forceful likenesses and Delff's plates, the Dutch peasant scenes of Ostade, the cattle pieces of Paul Potter, de Laer, Berghem, Dujardin, the landscapes of lluysdael and Waterloo, and, above all, the masterly plates of Rembrandt, whose wonderful, versatile genius can¬ not fail to awaken a deepening interest. A large collection of Rembrandt’s drawings in excellent reproduction helps to bring out the unique powers of the great Dutch master. In France portrait engraving reaches its highest perfection with Morin, Nanteuil, Edelinck, and the Drevet. From these beautiful plates one may turn with interest to the Eng¬ lish school of mezzotint engravers, to the portrait work of Green, McArdell, Smith, Ward, Watson, Reynolds, to the plates of Earlom or the stipples of Bartolozzi. Constable’s realistic landscapes are interpreted by the mezzotints of Lucas. Again a different mood will be met by Canaletto’s breezy Italian landscape etchings. An unfailing source of delight is always open to the amateur of landscape art in the wonderful plates of Turner’s Liber Studiorum, England and Wales, and other series. The beauty of the French metropolis inspires Meryon’s series of Paris etchings, and Whistler in his Thames set has recorded the poetry of a traffic-laden river. Then there are Haden and Lalanne, Klinger and COLLECTION OF PRINTS 383 Buhot, Corot, and Millet; there are Gaillard’s exquisite portraits as well as the lithographs of Delacroix, Raffet, Daumier, Gavarni, Isabey, Dupre, and Bonington. The collection of American prints, though rather deficient in examples of early work, offers abundant material for the study of the nineteenth century. The Print Department is also the repository for the collection of drawings (pp. 368—372). Madonna and Child Engraving by Andrea Mantegna, 1431-1506 3§4 COLLECTION OF PRINTS The Assumption of the Virgin Florentine Engraving after Botticelli Early Italian engravings reflect the glory and perfec¬ tion of Renaissance Art. Although technically inferior to contemporaneous German work, they are the fruits of a better tradition in art, and treat a wider range of sub¬ jects. The engravers of Northern Italy were dominated by the severe grandeur of Mantegna, while the Floren¬ tines show the influence of Finiguerra and Botticelli. COLLECTION OF PRINTS 385 Saint Jerome in His Celt Engraving by Albrecht Diirer, 1471-1528 Diirer is the greatest painter-engraver of the sixteenth century, Hisart, largely allusive, filled with thought, de¬ mands thought on the part of the beholder. Although able to express beauty, he generally sets it aside for expressive¬ ness, action, power. Standing on the threshold of modern times, Diirer links the dark ages with our own. Obscure though his art may be at times, it always proves stimulating. 386 COLLECTION OF PRINTS Frans Snyders (First State) Etching by Van Dyck, 1599-1641 For purity of style Van Dyck’s portrait etchings are unrivalled. They were done in so fresh and personal a manner as to be unappreciated by his contemporaries, so that in many cases formal backgrounds and accesso¬ ries were added with the burin by professional engravers. The Museum collection contains the majority ot his portraits, in early states, before this additional work. COLLECTION OF PRINTS 387 Blind, Tobit Etching by Rembrandt , 1606-1669 Amidst the vast number of famous Dutch artists stands the mighty personality of Rembrandt. Be his medium the brush, the pen, or the etching needle, he infuses into his art the vital, compelling force of the thought which animates him. He masters the secrets of nature by incessant study and keen observation. One of many examples of his powers is this groping figure of Tol it. 388 COLLECTION OF PRINTS Portrait of Pompone de Bellievre Engraving by Robert Nanteuil, 1623 (?)—1678 French engraving is seen to best advantage in the work of seventeenth-century engravers. Among them none quite equals the excellence of Robert Nanteuil. In his plates the last word of technical perfection is spoken, yet the engrav¬ er’s refined taste keeps technique subservient to the message of his art. COLLECTION OF PRINTS 389 Mary, Duchess of Ancaster Mezzotint Engraving hy James Watson , 1740-1790 (?) After Sir Joshua Reynolds Mezzotint was introduced into England shortly after its invention. Little used at first, it came into general favor in the eighteenth century. Its delicate blend¬ ings and rich, soft shadows made it the ideal medium for rendering the works of the great English portrait painters. 39 © COLLECTION OF PRINTS Raglan Castle Mezzotint Engraving by J. M. W. Turner, 1775-1851 Turner will always stand in the forefront among land¬ scape engravers. His broad outlook upon nature is happily wedded to an intimate knowledge of the world, born of incessant keen observation. In hundreds of masterly com¬ positions he speaks to us of nature with irresistible elo¬ quence. The “Liber Studiorum” reveals his command of the graphic arts. Several plates of this splendid series, the one shown above for example, are his own through¬ out. When he left the mezzotinting to others, he usually etched the outline himself, provided a wash-drawing to guide the engraver, and closely watched the progress of the plate. He carries us to the quiet dreamy seashore in the gloaming, or tothe storm-swept cliffs of the Yorkshire coast. We watch with him the lowering skies over Hind Head Hill and the thundercloud on Ben Arthur. We see the vine-clad plains of southern France and the glaciers and peaks of Switzerland, only to return to the woodland scenes of the Aesaeus or the Jason, and to the silent peace of lovely Raglan Castle. COLLECTION OF PRINTS 391 Cotton Mather Peter Pelham, 16 8 4 (?)-1751 The soil of New England was not hospitable to the fine arts in early days ; only portraiture was viewed without disapproval. At a time when English mezzotint developed its rich resources in portrait work, an English engraver of merit, Peter Pelham, came to try his fortunes in this coun¬ try. We owe to him a number of portraits, chiefly clergy¬ men, among them the above portrait of Mather. The revolutionary period boasts of Charles Willson Peale, by far the most gifted of early American engravers. After the Revolution came David Edwin, A. B. Durand, John Sartain, John Cheney, and later Charles Burt and William E. Marshall. During the latter part of the nineteenth century wood engraving, as exemplified by W. J. Linton, Frederick Juengling, J. H. E. Whitney, Gustav Kruell, Timothy Cole and Henry Wolf, achieved a character more original and pronounced and more nearly national than any other branch of art practiced in. America, and etching flourished for a brief period. All these changing phases may be followed in the Museum collection. 392 COLLECTION OF PRINTS Creation of Eve Colored Drawing by William Blake, 1757—1827 William Blake was a mystic, living among visions which he attempted to interpret in his art. His pow¬ erful conceptions with their exquisite coloring and their peculiarities of form carry one away from the realities COLLECTION OF PRINTS 393 Adam and Eve and the Angel Raphael Colored Drawing by William Blake, 1767-1827 of life. Eve takes shape at the Creator’s bidding, amid quiet, low shadings of gray and green. Again a nacreous glow of colors pervades the seated figure of Raphael. The Museum owns a number of these masterly drawings. 394 COLLECTION OF PRINTS 1 1 he Gleaners Drawing by J. F. Millet, lSl/f—lS75 Tlie life and toil of the peasant forms the dominant theme of Millet’s art. His genius for terse expressive¬ ness is revealed in a score of sketches in the collection. COLLECTION OF PRINTS 395 Peasant with a Wheelbarrow Drawing by J. F. Millet, 1814-1875 Close observation of the interplay of muscular effort and the force of gravitation is evident in this drawing, which is a preparation for the etching of the same subject, 396 COLLECTION OF PRINTS Besides the Blake drawings and the sketches of Millet, the Museum owns a number of drawings in charcoal by William Morris Hunt, and a miscellaneous assemblage of sketches by various artists, among them some examples of the art of Tiepolo. This small collection of original drawings is supplemented by numbers of excellent reproductions of the masterly drawings of Rembrandt, Diner, and other famous artists, found in the great col¬ lections of Europe. Reproductions of MenzeTs works and colored reproductions of sketches by Degas and Renouard are frequently consulted by visitors. Woman Feeding Her Child Drawing by J. F. Millet, 1811875 COLLECTION OE PRINTS 397 ROOKS OF REFERENCE All of these are in the Print Department Library. Hind, A. M. A Short History of Engraving and Etching. Kristeller, Paul. Kupferstich und Holzschnitt in vier Jahrhun- derten. Lippmann, Dr. Fr. Engraving and Etching. Chapin, Willis 0. Masters and Masterpieces of Engraving. Whitman, Alfred and Salaman, Malcolm C. Print Collectors’ Handbook. Richter, Emil H. Prints, their Technique and History. Weitenkampf, Frank. How to Appreciate Prints. Keppel, Frederick. The Golden Age of Engraving. Carrington, FitzRoy. Engravers and Etchers. Carrington, FitzRoy. (Editor.) Prints and their Makers. Carrington, FitzRoy. (Editor.) The Print-Collector’s Quarterly, Vols. I-VII: 1911-1917. Hamerton, Philip Gilbert. Etching and Etchers. Wedmore, Frederick. Etchings. Wedmore, Frederick. Fine Prints. Binyon, Laurence. Dutch Etchers of the Seventeenth Century. Bradley, W. A. French Etchers of the Second Empire. Pollard, Alfred W. Italian Book Illustrations. Worringer, Dr. Wilhelm. Die Altdeutsche Buchillustration. Thomas, T. H. French Portrait Engraving of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Dilke, Lady. French Engravers and Draughtsmen of the Eight¬ eenth Century. Model, Julius and Springer, Jaro. Der Franzosische Farbenstich des XVIII Jahrhunderts. Nevill, Ralph. French Prints of the Eighteenth Century. Lalanne, Maxime. A Treatise on Etching. Singer, H. W. and Strang, W. Etching, Engraving and other Methods of Printing Pictures. Chatto,W. A. and Jackson, John. A Treatise on Wood Engraving. Linton, W. J. The Masters of Wood Engraving. Whitman, Alfred. Masters of Mezzotint. Prideaux, S. T. Aquatint Engraving. Curtis, Atherton. Some Masters of Lithography. Pennell, J. and E. R. Lithography and Lithographers. LIBRARY AND COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS LIBRARY 401 LIBRARY N OT until 1879, three years after the opening of the Museum in Copley Square, was a room equipped to serve the specific purposes of the Library, but the establishment of a special Library was mentioned in the statement of the objects of the Museum issued by the Trustees upon their incorporation in 1870, and the con¬ tribution of one thousand dollars offered in 1875 for the purchase of books was the earliest gift of money to the Museum for any other than its general purposes. The Library now possesses approximately fifty thou¬ sand books and pamphlets, including twenty thousand volumes in Chinese and Japanese. It aims to possess the most authoritative information on fine and on applied art, and to serve any individual working in those fields. The collection includes museum catalogues, catalogues of private collections, biographies of artists, monographs on different branches of art, and large and expensive volumes of reproductions. The Library also subscribes to the leading periodicals of art. The collection of photographs is an important adjunct of the Library. It was started with ten volumes of Roman photographs ” given by George B. Emerson; these are recorded in the first annual report (l873) of the Committee on the Museum. The collection now contains about fifty thousand photographs, representing the art of all times and countries. 402 LIBRARY The public is not allowed to take books from the Library, but teachers are permitted to borrow photo¬ graphs for purposes of instruction on condition that they be returned within forty-eight hours. The Library is open to any visitor to the Museum. The Librarian, or an assistant, is constantly present to give information to readers. COLLECTIONS OF CASTS EAST COURT 405 COLLECTIONS OF CASTS Greek, and Roman Sculpture O RIGINAL works of Greek sculpture in America are so few and often so fragmentary that the stu¬ dent of classical art must supplement his study of actual examples by the use of photographs and casts. As mechanical reproductions in the original size, casts give the composition, the proportions, and what has been called the dramatic character of Greek sculpture, and enable the student to learn something even of the technical procedure of the artist. In looking at them, however, it must be remembered that the final perfec¬ tion of style in the work of great masters cannot be re¬ produced in plaster. The effect of this material in color, quality of surface, and response to light and shadow is very different from that of the original marble or bronze. The impression that the casts produce should be con¬ stantly corrected by reference to the collection of original ancient sculptures in the classical galleries. The large court to the right of the central stairway is devoted chiefly to Greek sculpture of the archaic period and of the fifth and fourth centuries B. C. Near the entrance of this room are reproductions of works of early date illustrating the steady progress by which the art outgrew its primitive helplessness and, through direct study of nature and increasing mastery of materials and tools, prepared the way for the con¬ summate achievement of the fifth century. At this end of the room are also a few casts of sculp¬ tures of the so-called period of transition between archaic art and the free creation of the art of Pheidias. To this period belong some of the works of wdiich casts are ex¬ hibited on the walls of the court: the west pedimental group from the Temple of Aphaia in Aegina and some 406 COLLECTIONS OF CASTS of the pedimental figures and metopes from the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. The sculpture of this time has a freshness and sincerity which more than atone for the limitations in its scope of representation. The athletic ideal of the fifth century B. C. is em¬ bodied in the work of Myron, the sculptor of the famous Diseobolos, and of Polyeleitus of Argos, who attempted to establish a normal standard of proportions for the human figure. Casts representing the work of these artists are shown in the west end of the court. The mingled elements of Athenian civilization found their plastic expression in the style of Pheidias. At the west end of the court are casts from a few statues of his school, while on the long pedestals at the sides of the rooms are reproductions of the pedimental groups of the Parthenon. Parts of the Parthenon frieze and a few of the metopes are arranged on the walls. The decoration of this temple was probably directed by Pheidias. It reflects the noblest civic and religious ideals of Greece. The graceful motives and the refined technique of Praxiteles are shown in casts from works attributed to him and to his school. These are grouped at the southeast corner of the court. In the northeast cor¬ ner are reproductions of statues attributed to Scopas, one of the most vigorous and original of the sculptors of the fourth century B. C. The last great sculptor of the athletic figure in Greece was Lysippus of Sicyon, whose celebrated Apoxyomenos is known to us through a Roman copy, of which a cast is exhibited here. Because of their large size, casts of two important examples of late Greek sculpture are exhibited in the court: the Victory of Samothrace and a part of the frieze of the great altar at Pergamon. In front of the latter is placed a selection of the dramatic sculp¬ tures of the earlier Pergamene School. A door on the south wall of the court leads into a EAST COURT 407 corridor on one of whose walls are casts from the frieze of the Temple of Apollo, near Phigaleia in Arcadia. In the circular hall under the rotunda are casts from works of the Hellenistic and Roman periods, including the Aphrodite of Melos and the Laocodn group. A model of the Athenian Acropolis and of a comer of the Parthenon are also shown here. Note.— For detailed information regarding the classical casts, the visitor is referred to the Catalogue of Casts of Greek and Roman Sculpture (Edward Robinson) describing the col¬ lection as installed in the old building. Students of classical archaeology may obtain permission to examine in the basement storerooms many casts which are not shown in the galleries. 408 COLLECTIONS OF CASTS Sculpture of the Italian Renaissance In the collection of casts from sculpture of the Italian Renaissance, the chief sculptors of that period are all represented, some of them by their most famous works. The two figures of horsemen—the smaller, of Gattamelata, by Donatello (l452), and the larger, of Colleoni, by Verrocchio (1496)— are regarded as the foremost equestrian statues of the world. Niccolo Pisano's octagonal pulpit in Siena Cathedral was com¬ missioned in the year of Dante’s birth (1265), and for the first time embodied the imagery of the Catholic faith in forms of classical purity and beauty. Jacopo della Quercia, the most noted of the sculptors of Siena, is represented by the recumbent effigy of Ilaria del Carretto (d. 1405). The emphatic composition of this figure and the poetical impressiveness of the marble effigy by a living artist across the room exemplify two widely different conceptions of the art of sculpture. The great portal on the south wall reproduces the eastern doors of the Baptistery at Florence (1452), by Lorenzo Ghiberti — fit to be the gates of Paradise, as Michel Angelo said. Ten typical scenes from Old Testament history fill the ten panels, and the heads and statuettes that surround them and the garland that frames them are no less interesting as sculpture. Of Donatello, the sculptor of greatest power in Italy before Michel Angelo, the collection contains, beside the Gattamelata and reliefs, two well-known statues — the St. George (l416), a young man-at-arms impatient for the battle, and the David (l430), the earliest nude statue of modern times. On the north wall are placed reproductions of the famous reliefs of Singing and Dancing Youths, carved by Luca della Robbia in 1437 WEST COURT 409 for the organ loft of Florence Cathedral, and now pre¬ served in the Cathedral Museum. Reproductions of two lunettes in glazed terra-cotta by his nephew, Andrea della Robbia, hang above, one imaging the meeting of St. Francis and St. Dominic, the other the Annunciation of the Virgin. The collection includes a number of reliefs, busts, and statues from the mem¬ orable group of sculptors who were the contemporaries of the Robbia in Florence: Mino da Fiesole, Desiderio da Settignano, Verrocchio, Rossellino, and others. The reproductions of Michel Angelo’s works include three of his greatest achievements : the statue of Moses from the tomb of Julius II (ordered 1505 ), and the figures of the Dukes Lorenzo and Giuliano de’ Medici, and of Night, Day, Evening, and Dawn from the tombs of the Dukes ( 1521 - 1534 ) in the Medici Chapel. Note. — For further information in regard to the sculptures which this collection of casts reproduces, the visitor is referred to the Manual of Italian Renaissance Sculpture (Benjamin Ives Gilman), published by the Museum. NOTES ON CHINESE CHRONOLOGY Hncluding the Minor Han (221-26.5), Wei (220-265), and Wu (229-265). 2 Six Dynasties is a loose term. As dated here it covers the Western Ch'in (265-317), Eastern Ch'in (317-420), and the division into North (Tartars) and South (Chinese), 420-589: under the Sung, 420-479; Ch'i, 479-502; Liang, 502-557; Ch’en, 557-589; Northern Wei, 386-535; Western Wei, 535-557; Eastern Wei, 534-550; Northern Ch'i, 550-589; and Northern Chou, 557-589. 3 Including the Posterior Liang, Posterior T'ang, Posterior Ch'in. Posterior Han, and Posterior Chou, with which, and with the Sung and Southern Sung, the Liao (907-1125), Western Liao (1125-1168), and Ch'in (1115-1260) dynasties were contemporary. SYNOPSIS OF THE HISTORY OF ART (AS REPRESENTED WESTERN EUROPE THE LEVANT IN THE MUSEUM COLLECTIONS) EASTERN rehistoric 3000-1000 (Minoan) Archaic 1000—500 Classical 500-300 Hellenistic 300-100 Graeco- Roman 100 B.C.- 200 A.D. Predynastic r Old Empire Middle Einp. New Empire (Assyria) Hebrew Prophets Pentateuch Psalter Greek, Roman, and Byzantine (Coptic) periods, 332 B.C.— 638 A.D. Early liristian tila, the Hun, d. 453 Byzantine o omanesque 800-1200 Gothic 1200-1400 arly Renaissance 1400-1500 igh Renaissance 1500-1600 ate Renaissance 16(^0—1800 Arabian Saracenic, Islamic B. C. 3000 2000 1500 500 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 A. D. (Dynasties) Shang, 1766-1122 Chou, 1122-255 Lao Tzu, b. 604 Confucius 551-479 Cli'in, 255-206 Han, 206-A. D. 25 Later Han, 25-221 Buddhism 67 Three Kingdoms i 221-265 Six Dynasties 2 265-589 Sui, 589-618 T'ang, 618-907 Five Dynasties 3 907-960 Sung, 960-1127 Southern Sung 1127-1280 Chingliis Khan 1206 Yuan (Mongols) 1280-1368 Ming (Chinese) 1368-1644 Ch'ing (Manchu) 1644-1912 Republic from 1912 Rig-veda Upanishads Beginning of Imperial rule 660 Confucianism 285 Buddha (563-483) Invasion by Alexander, 326 Maun a dynasty 322-184 Asoka, 272-232 S liny a dynasty, 184-7 Buddhism in Central Asia Kanva dynasty. 72-27 Andhra dynasty, 27 Kushan invasion Kanishka, 78-120 Huvishka, 120-140 Fall of Kushan Empire Gupta dynasty 320-480 Colonization of Indonesia Ajanta, 4tli-7tli Buddhism, 538 century 1st Clialukya Suiko, 552-644 dynasty Hakuho, 645-709 Tempyo,710-793 Jogan, 794-899 Fujiwara, 900- 1189, periods Decline of Imperial rule, 1150 Kamakura Sbo- gunate, 1190-1337 Rise of the Rajputs Pala dynasty 740-1130 Muhammadan conquest of North’ll India Mughal Em¬ pire, 1526-1761 Akbar Jahangir Shah Jahan Aurangzib British Em¬ pire, 1858 Ashikaga Shogunate 1338-1582 Momoyama period, 1583-1602 Tokugawa Shogunate 1603-1867 Full restoration of Imperial rule 1868 Meiji, 1868-1911 Taisho, from 1912 THE MUSEUM AND ITS HISTORY MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON Incorporated February 4, 1870 T HE Museum is a permanent public exhibition of original works of the art of Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Orient, and modern Europe and America, supplemented by reproductions of others. It is supported wholly by private gifts and managed by a Board of Trustees including represen¬ tatives of Harvard University, the Boston Athenaeum, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the City and the State, acting through a numerous staff and with the cooperation of visiting and advisory committees of citizens. Visitors, about 250,000 annually. A public museum of art offers the whole people an unfailing source of delight and improvement. The preservation, enrich¬ ment, and interpretation of museum collections demand liberal financial support. They must be shown under secure and hon¬ orable conditions. Unless by gift, they can be increased only through the expenditure of large sums in purchase or explora¬ tion. Their care and exposition demand a staff of specialists. In the measure of its power of wise outlay a museum can both widen and deepen its beneficent influence. The legal title is “ Museum of Fine Arts.” Names of givers are permanently attached to objects purchased with their gifts. 416 THE MUSEUM AND ITS HISTORY TRUSTEES OE THE MUSEUM Named in Act of Incorporation, Feb. l t , 1870, or Since Elected Charles William Eliot . . Feb. 4, 1870 Denman Waldo Ross Jan. 17, 1895 Charles Sprague Sargent Jan. 18, 1900 Morris G ray . Jan. 16, 1902 Edward Waldo Forbes April 28, 1903 Thomas Allen . . . . April 15, 1909 Augustus Hemenway Jan. 10, 1913 William Crowninshield Endicott Jan. 21, 1915 George Peabody Gardner May 0, 1915 William Endicott . May 0, 1915 Holker Abbott .... . July 20, 1916 Dudley Leavitt Pickman . . July 18, 1918 Henry Lee Siiattuck Oct. 17, 1918 Henry Forbes Bigelow June 5, 1919 Thomas Jefferson Coolidge Jan. 20, 1921 Appointed by Harvard College William Sturgis Bigelow, 1891 John Templeman Coolidge, 1902 George Henry Chase, 1918 Appointed by the Boston Athenaeum Joseph Randolph Coolidge, Jr., 1899 Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow, 1904 Charles Knowles Bolton, 1917 Appointed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Eliiiu Thomson, 1920 Edward Jackson Holmes, 1910 Desmond FitzGerald, 1910 Ex Officio James Michael Curley, Mayor of Boston, 1922 Alexander Mann, President of the Trustees of the Public Library, 1920 Jeremiah Edmund Burke, Superintendent of Public Schools, 1921 Payson Smith, Commissioner of Education, 1916 Abbott Lawrence Lowell, Trustee of the Lowell Institute, 1900 OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES 417 OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES FOR 1922 Morris Gray, President William Crowninshielb Endicott, Treasurer Arthur Fairbanks, Director Benjamin Ives Gilman, Secretary of the Museum John Eliot Thayer, Jr., Assistant Treasurer STANDING COMMITTEES Committee on the Museum To serve until 1923 John Templeman Coolidge, George Peabody Gardner To serve until 1924 Henry Forbes Bigelow Edward Jackson Holmes To serve until 1925 Dudley Leavitt Pickman Denman Waldo Ross Ex Officio The President The Treasurer The Director, Chairman Committee on the School of the Museum of Fine Arts The President, Ex Officio The Director, Ex Officio Thomas Allen Finance Committee The President, Ex Officio The Treasurer, Ex Officio George Peabody Gardner William Endicott 4iS TIIE MUSEUM AND ITS HISTORY VISITING COMMITTEES Administration Herbert Mason Sears, Chairman Allan Forbes George Peabody Gardner, Jr. Francis Gray Roger Pierce Classical Art William Lindsey, Chairman Mrs. Emile Francis Williams George Henry Chase Joseph Clark Hoppin Mrs. Frederick Winslow Cyrus E. Dallin Miss Ellen Mason Prints George Peabody Gardner, Chairman Charles Cobb Walker William Maurice Bullivant Paul Joseph Sachs Felix Moritz Warburg Mrs. Thomas Jefferson Coolidge Gordon Abbott Miss Ellen Bullard Allen Curtis Eben S. Draper Egyptian Art Augustus Hemenway, Chairman George F. Moore Mrs. George Russell Agassiz Mrs. Oric Bates Ralph W. Gray Mrs. S. V. R. Crosby Mrs. Gardiner Martin Lane Chinese and Japanese Art Edward Jackson Holmes, Chairman Mrs. Ernest Blanf.y Dane James LIaugiiton Woods Mrs. Charles Goddard Weld Mrs. Washington B. Thomas Mrs. Larz Anderson Miss Emily McKibbin COMMITTEES 419 Paintings Desmond FitzGerald, Chairman Thomas Allen Robert Treat Paine, 2d Mrs. Adelaide Cole Chase Mrs. Calvin G. Page Mrs. W. Scott Fitz Philip L. Hale Western Art: Textiles Dr. Denman Waldo Ross, Chairman John Singer Sargent Philip Ainsworth Means Mrs. Gorham Brooks Mrs. Edward Jackson Holmes Western Art: Other Collections Dudley Leavitt Pickman, Chairman Henry Davis Sleeper Francis Hill Bigelow William Crowninshield Endicott Mrs. John Fremont Hill Mrs. Roger Sherman Warner Mrs. Henry Lyman John Templeman Coolidge Library Charles Knowles Bolton, Chairman Charles Kimball Cummings Mrs. Charles Pelham Curtis Edward Percival Merritt Mrs. Henry Lefavour Charles Francis Dorr Belden Miss Nina H. Burnham William Truman Aldrich Mrs. Ernest W. Bowditch The President of the Museum is ex officio a member of all the Visiting Committees. 420 THE MUSEUM AND ITS HISTORY Advisory Committee on Education Charles William Eliot, Chairman Charles Knowles Bolton Jeremiah Edmund Burke Mrs. Richard Clarke Cabot Joseph Randolph Coolidge, Jr. Theodore Milton Dillaway Arthur Fairbanks Morris Gray Mrs. Horatio Appleton Lamb Alexander Mann Miss Fanny Peabody Mason Mrs. Robert Shaw Russell Payson Smith The Secretary of the Museum, Ex Officio, Secretary STAFF OF THE MUSEUM 421 THE STAFF OF THE MUSEUM Director Secretary of the Museum Assistant Director, Bursar Registrar Arthur Fairbanks Benjamin Ives Gilman Charles Henry Hawes Hanford Lyman Story Acting Curator Department of Prints Henry Preston Rossiter Department of Classical Art Curator Lacey Davis Caskey Department of Chinese and Japanese Art Curator Assistant Curator Keeper of Japanese Pottery Keeper in the Department Librarian of the Department John Ellerton Lodge Kojiro Tomita Edward Sylvester Morse Francis Stewart Kershaw Miss Chie Hirano Sections of Indian Art and Muhammadan Art Keeper Ananda K. Coomaraswamy Department of Egyptian Art Curator Assistant Curator George Andrew Reisner Dows Dunham Keeper Department of Painting John Briggs Potter Department of Western Art Keeper in the Department Edwin James Hipkiss Adviser in Textiles Mrs. Charles Wendell Townsend Assistant in Charge of Textiles Miss Gertrude Townsend THE MUSEUM AND ITS HISTORY 422 Library Acting Librarian Ashton Sanborn Assistant Librarian, with Charge of Photographs Miss Frances Ellis Turner Department of Publication and Instruction The Secretary of the Museum in Charge Assistant in Publication Miss Harriett E. Dickinson Assistant in Instruction Miss Margaret L. Wheeler Superintendent Building and Grounds Michael Moore HONORARY OFFICERS Honorary Curator of the Department of Western Art Frank Gair Macomber Honorary Keeper of Coins Malcolm Storer PUBLICATIONS 423 LIST OF PUBLICATIONS Apply at the office at the Huntington Avenue entrance, or by mail to the Secretary of the Museum. Postage extra. Bulletin. Published bi-monthly at 50 cents per year post paid; single copies, 10 cents. Vol. 1, 1903. Past numbers, 20 cents each. Past Volumes, $1.00 each. Volumes I-IV (1906) in part out of print. Annual Report. Published in March. Sent free on appli¬ cation. Handbook of the Museum, over 400 pp., with more than 300 illustrations. In paper ...... $0.75 Section relating to Indian Art ....... .15 Leaflet Guide to the Museum. (Illustrated) ... .05 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1870-1920 (Illustrated) . .25 Synopsis of History, with special reference to Architec¬ ture, Painting, Sculpture and the Derivative Arts. . .25 Museum. Ideals of Purpose and Method. Benjamin Ives Gilman. Printed by order of the Trustees, 1918. Second Edition, with additions and an Index, 1922 .......... 4.00 List of Publications .......... Sent free Department of Prints The Print Collector’s Quarterly, formerly published by the Museum, with Mr. FitzRoy Carrington, at the time Curator of Prints, as Editor, was discontinued with Vol. VII, No. 4, for December, 1917. Publi¬ cation of the Quarterly has now been resumed by Messrs. J. M. Dent and Sons, Ltd., 10-13 Bedford Street, Covent Garden, London, W. f'.. England, with Mr. Campbell Dodgson, Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum, as Editor, and Mr. Carrington as American Editor. Vol. VIII, No. 1, April, 1921. The subscription price is twenty shillings in England, four dollars in America. Print Collector’s Booklets: The Men of 1830. Le Pere Corot. Charles Francois Daubigny, Painter and Etcher. By Robert J. Wickenden. Charles Jacque (1813-1894). By Robert J. Wickenden. Maxima Lalanne. By William Aspenwall Bradley. Each booklet, in paper .. $0.25 424 THE museum and its history Gallery Hook: The Intaglios of the Corona Lucis in the Cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle. SO. 25 Catalogue of the Engraved and Lithographed Work of John Cheney and Seth Wells Cheney (1891). S. R. Koehler. 2.50 Exhibition of Turner’s “Liber Studiorum” (1904). Francis Bullard. 1.00 Exhibition of Early Engraving in America: Decem¬ ber 12, 1904, to February 5, 1905 . 1.00 In boards on hand-made paper. 2.00 Engravers and Etchers. Six lectures delivered on the Scammon Foundation at the Art Institute of Chicago. FitzRoy Carrington . 6.00 French Etchers of the Second Empire. W. A. Bradley 2.50 Department of Egyptian Art Gallery Books: Mastaba Gallery. Old Kingdom Sculpture. .25 Middle Kingdom Room. The Tomb of Dehuti-Nekt and his wife, about 2000 B. C. .25 Department of Classical Art Geometry of Greek Vases. Attic vases in the Museum of Fine Arts analyzed according to the principles of proportion discovered by Jay Hambidge (1922). L. D. Caskey. 6.25 Greek Gods and Heroes as Represented in the Clas¬ sical Collections of the Museum: a Handbook for High School Students (1915). Arthur Fairbanks, in conjunction with a Committee of Teachers. . .30 THE MUSEUM AND ITS HISTORY 425 Gallery Books: Classical Corridor. Graeco-Roman Glass. Archaic Room. Terra Cotta Figurines and Vases. Fifth Century Room. Bronzes and Terra Cotta Figurines. Vases. Graeco-Roman Gallery. Sculpture. Each Book. $0.25 Catalogue of Arretine Moulds (1916). G. H Chase . 3.50 Catalogue of Casts for sale.Sent free. Department of Chinese and Japanese Art Catalogue of the Morse Collection of Japanese Pot¬ tery (1901). Edward S. Morse ...... 50.00 Japanese Sword Guards, 35 plates, illustrating 69 examples. .50 Gallery Books Japanese Theatrical Costumes worn in the No Drama .50 Netsuke .. .50 An Introduction to Japanese Art of the Ukiyo-e School . .10 Department of Western Art Manual of Italian Renaissance Sculpture (1904). Benjamin Ives Gilman. 1.00 Catalogue of a Loan Exhibition of American Church Silver (1911): with illustrations. 5.00 Catalogue of the Quincy Adams Shaw Collection of Italian Renaissance Sculpture and of Paintings and Pastels by Jean Francois Millet (1918) . . .50 Catalogue of Paintings (Preliminary Edition, 1921) . 1.00 Gallery Books: Gothic Room . .25 Italian Renaissance Sculpture . .25 Bremgarten Room. .10 Lawrence Room .. .10 W. A. Buffum Collection of Amber. .10 European and American pewter. .10 The publications of the Museum are on sale in London by Bernard Quaritch, No. 11, Grafton St., New Bond St. W. 4 26 THE MUSEUM AND ITS HISTORY The following publications are also on sale at the office at the Huntington Avenue entrance. A Catalogue of the Engraved Plates for Picturesque Views in England and Wales after Water Color Drawings by J. M. W. Turner. Francis Bullard. Merrymount Press, 1910. Paper. $1.00 Cloth. 1.50 Athenian White Lekythoi. Arthur Fairbanks. Uni¬ versity of Michigan Studies. Humanistic Series. Vol. VI, 1907 .. 4.00 Vol. VII, 1914. 3.50 Buddhist Art in Its Relation to Buddhist Doctrine. M. Anesaki. Houghton Mifflin Co., 1915. In boards . 7.50 Paper. 5.00 Historic Silver of the Colonies. F. H. Bigelow. Mac¬ millan Co., 1917. 5.00 OPPORTUNITIES OF INSTRUCTION 427 OPPORTUNITIES OF INSTRUCTION, 1922-1923 COURSES OF LECTURES Museum Course The Development of Artistic Insight. Saturdays at 10.30. Thirty lectures in three courses, beginning October 7. Fee $5 for each course. Miss Alicia M. Keyes, Lecturer at the Museum. The aim of these courses is to increase the power of seeing a few works of art in the Museum, special attention being given to artistic quality. Until a week before the opening applicants hold¬ ing teaching positions will be given preference. As the classes are limited to twenty-five, early application should be made. Museum School Courses In connection with the work of the School of the Museum the following courses of lectures will be given in the Museum. While they are intended for regular students in the School, they will not be too technical to benefit others who are interested in the subjects presented. Artistic Anatomy. Tuesdays and Fridays at 2 . Twenty-four lectures, beginning October 6 . Fee, $15. Mr. Philip L. Hale. The History of Design. Thursdays at 3. Thirty lectures beginning October 12 . Fee, $15. Mr. Henry Hunt Clark. Simmons College Course The following course, under the auspices of Simmons College will be given at the Museum and be open to all who obtain the consent of the instructor. Fee, $ 20 . The Appreciation of Art. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, at 3.30 P. M., for the ten weeks beginning March 26. Miss Blanche L. Morse. For application forms address the Regis¬ trar of Simmons College, 300 Fenway, Boston. WEDNESDAY CONFERENCES The officers of several of the Museum departments will as usual give a series of Conferences, or informal lectures, during the coming winter, on subjects connected with their departments. The dates, topics and speakers will be duly announced in the Museum Bulletin and in the press. The Conferences are especially addressed to those who have given some attention to the branches of art they represent and are designed to enable such persons to extend their acquaintance with the cultural sources of the Museum collections, 428 THE MUSEUM AND ITS HISTORY OCCASIONAL LECTURES The Museum expects to continue to offer the Boston public the opportunity of hearing lectures by eminent specialists, temporarily in the city, on subjects connected with the branches of art repre¬ sented here. These occasional lectures will be duly announced in the press and by special notices to institutions and others inter¬ ested. DOCENT SERVICE For Visitors On Week Days. Visitors desiring to see the Museum, or any department or exhibit, in the company of a representative of the Museum as Docent, are invited to write for an appointment to Miss Wheeler, Assistant in Instruction. Application may also be made in person to the Doorkeeper at the Huntington Avenue entrance, when a Docent will be provided if one of the Staff is available for the duty at the tune. The service is free to all. On Sundays to All Comers. On every Sunday afternoon from October to May invited speakers or members of the Museum Staff will give talks in the galleries or the lecture hall at 3 and 4 P. M. The talks generally occupy three-quarters of an hour, and the gallery in which a talk is in progress is barred meanwhile to the passage of other visitors. Seats are provided. The subjects and the speakers are announced in the Fine Arts column of the Satur¬ day and Sunday papers, on the bulletin board at the Huntington Avenue entrance to the Museum, and in special notices which will be sent to any address upon request. On Sundays to Small Groups. In previous seasons the Museum has provided a Docent on Sunday afternoons to accompany groups of not over six persons to the galleries for the explanation of such exhibits as the majority select. It is expected to offer this opportunity again next winter. The groups start from the sign in the Huntington Avenue Entrance Hall at 2.30 and 3.30, each tour lasting forty-five minutes. Due announcement will be made in the press. For Instructors and Pupils Collections of art like those of the Museum are of the greatest value in vitalizing the study of history, literature, and geography, and for classes in art appreciation, drawing, and design. The Museum cordially invites teachers to bring their classes to the Museum and to ask for the attendance of a Docent. Appoint¬ ments for Docent service may be made either singly or in series, and for groups of any size up to twenty-five persons. OPPORTUNITIES OF INSTRUCTION 429 Talks in the Schools. On request from any teacher in the Boston schools, Miss Wheeler, Assistant in Instruction at the Museum, will go to the schools to give talks to the pupils in their classrooms or lecture-rooms, illustrating them by lantern slides or photographs from the Museum collections. This service is free, and is intended to prepare classes for visits to the Museum, but as appointments in the Museum will have prior claim on the Assistant’s time, it may be necessary to make arrangements some time in advance. Suggested Topics: The Emperor Augustus Ancient Egypt ? Stories of Venice r Greek Myths Material for the Use of Teachers. The Egyptian Travelling Exhibit can be sent to any school on application to Mr. John C. Brodhead, Assistant Superintendent of Schools, to whom it is sent every fall for the school year. Together with a group of original Egyptian objects, it contains a typewritten description of these objects, and a lecture illustrated with slides. School sheets or half tone pages of objects in the Museum col¬ lections of especial interest to students, can be obtained for three or five cents a sheet at the Sales Desk. Extra illustrations of Classical History. The Thompson Charts are helpful in the teaching of Greek and Roman History and are sold ip the Catalogue Office at the Museum. For Clubs and Groups Clubs'and other groups are invited to make appointments or series of appointments for informal conferences or illustrated lectures by officers of the Museum on subjects connected with the branches of art represented in the collections. The Museum makes no charge for appointments in the building, but suggests that the participants contribute, if they so desire, toward the general educational funds of the institution. For appointments elsewhere the speakers receive an honorarium of $25 and upwards, with expenses. MUSEUM INSTRUCTION OF YOUNG PEOPLE Story-Telling Summer Story-hours. The Museum has for several years arranged for the telling of stories to young children, in the Lecture Hall, on subjects connected with the collections. The Story- hours are held every weekday during July and August. For the 430 THE MUSEUM AND ITS HISTORY summer of 1922 the story-tellers are Mrs. Mary W. Cronan and Miss Wheeler, Assistant, in Instruction at the Museum. The salaries of the story-tellers and the expense of transportation have been met by a gift from one or another generous friend of the Museum and of children. Two groups of about sixty children each are brought daily in a special trolley-car to the Museum, one in the morning at 9.30, and the other in the afternoon at 2.30. The story is told with lantern accompaniment, and the children are taken to see related objects in the galleries and dismissed, each with a postal card illustrating the talk. A special notice from the Museum each spring invites the Branch Libraries, Playgrounds, and Settlement Houses of the city to arrange groups. Winter Story-hours. Similar courses of illustrated Story-hours will be given on Saturdays at 2.30 P. M. during the coming winter, by Miss Wheeler. The dates and topics will be duly announced in the Bulletin and the press. The stories will be adapted to children under fourteen and all are cordially invited. Classes in Drawing The following courses of instruction in drawing from objects in the collections are offered to young people. The purpose of the instruction is the development of visual capacity as the foundation of artistic insight. The courses are held both in the galleries and in the class rooms of the Museum. For the younger children materials and apparatus are supplied by the Museum. The instructors are Miss Alice J. Morse, Miss Jeannette Greenberg, Miss Edith Rudin and Miss Olga Le Brecht. Winter Courses from October to May inclusive, with an inter¬ mission during the holiday season. For pupils over fourteen years of age. Saturday, from 10 to 1, beginning October 7. Fee, $2.00 for each of the two terms. Miss Morse. For pupils under fourteen years of age, Saturday morning, from 10 to 12, beginning Saturday, October 7. Fee $1.00 for each of the two terms. Miss Greenberg and Miss Le Brecht. Sunday afternoon, from 1 to 4, beginning Sunday, October 8. Fee, $1.00 for each of the two terms. Miss Greenberg and Miss Rudin. Summer Courses during July and August. For pupils under fourteen years of age. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings, from 10 to 12, beginning July 5, 1923. Fee $1.00. Miss Greenberg. For admission to these classes apply to Miss Wheeler, Assistant in Instruction, Office of the Administration at the Museum. Opportunities of instruction 431 PRIVATE INSTRUCTION The use of the Museum classrooms and lecture halls is open to any persons or organizations desiring to illustrate single lectures or courses of instruction by the collections. Credentials satisfactory to the Museum must be furnished and the form of any public an¬ nouncement approved. The use of the room is free. If the lantern is used an operator is furnished and a charge of $3.00 for each occasion is made. The Museum assmnes no responsibility for this instruction. The use of the Galleries for study and copying is open to classes under instructors fulfilling the same conditions. No formal in¬ struction is permitted unless by Special permission. Quiet, order¬ liness and a scrupulous regard for the safety of the collections will be required of all students. LIBRARY AND PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION The Library and the Photograph Collection of the Museum (over the Huntington Avenue entrance) are open to use by all visitors. They are restricted to books and photographs relating to the Fine Arts and mainly to the branches of art represented in the Museum collections. No formal instruction of classes is permitted. DEPARTMENT ROOMS The study rooms of the Departments of Chinese and Japanese Art, Classical Art, Prints, Western (European) Art, and Textiles (on the ground floor) are open to use by all who desire to pursue studies in these branches of art under the guidance of officers of the Museum and with the aid of the Museum collections. For further information regarding opportunities of instruction apply to Miss Wheeler, Assistant in Instruction at the Museum. HISTORICAL DATA 43 3 First Museum Building HISTORICAL DATA STATEMENTS OF PURPOSES The charter constitutes “a body corporate, by the name of the Trustees of the Museum of Fine Arts for the purpose of erecting a museum for the preservation and exhi- poration, bition of works of art, of making, maintaining, ^ 87 o rUary 4 ’ ar, d exhibiting collections of such works, and of affording instruction in the Fine Arts.” “The objects of the Museum of Fine Arts are: 1 st. To make available to the public and to students such art collec¬ tions already existing in this neighborhood as the proprietors of such collections may see fit to de¬ posit in a suitable building to be arranged for the purpose, — under such general provisions as to the custody and exhibition thereof as shall be agreed upon, — with the sole view to their greatest public use¬ fulness. 2 d. To form in this way the nucleus of what may hereafter become, through the liberality of enlightened friends of Art, a representative Museum of the Fine Arts, in all their branches and in all their technical applications. 3d. To provide Report of Committee on By-Laws, March 17 , 1870 434 THE MUSEUM AND ITS HISTORY opportunities and means for giving instruction in Drawing, Painting, Modelling, and Designing, with their industrial ap¬ plications, through lectures, practical schools, and a special library.” ”... the Museum was founded upon a very broad basis. Its aims, as is expressed in its charter, are to make, maintain, and exhibit collections of works of art, and to afford instruction in the Fine Arts: as expressed the* Increase by the words on its corporate seal, they are, ‘ Art, of the Col- T ^ , . lections, Industry, Education ; as implied by the condi- Annual Re- tion of free access for the public contained in the port ’ 1883 deed of its land, they are the benefit and pleasure of the whole community.” ”... it is of the first importance that our collections should attract, interest, and instruct the public; and it is of an importance second only to this that they should meet the requirements of the artist, the student, the designer, and the specialist ” ” In using our space, the first object should be to give it to those things which have the greatest interest and beauty; the second, to secure the proportionate growth of all departments of the Museum.” ” To frame a scheme for the purchase of original works is, however, practicable oidy in the most general way. We must assume as the foundation of it that the Museum is to be what its name expresses, a Museum of the Fine Arts; that its pri¬ mary intention is to collect and exhibit the best obtainable works of genius and skill; that the application of the Fine Arts to industry and the illustration of the Fine Arts by archaeology are both within its province, but that neither of these is its first object.” HISTORICAL DATA 435 ORIGIN AND GROWTH In 1859, eleven years before the incorporation of the Mu¬ seum, the Jarves Collection of Italian pictures, now in New Haven, had been offered as a nucleus for a public Foundation museum of art in Boston, but the project had been abandoned. In 1869 several circumstances combined to reawaken interest in the scheme. The Boston Athenaeum had received a bequest of armor and the offer of funds for a room wherein to exhibit it. The Social Science Association had conceived the idea of a public collection of plaster reproductions of sculpture. Harvard College sought an opportunity to make its collection of engravings useful to the public. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology had no sufficient room for its collection of architectural casts. In October, 1869, representatives of these organizations united with other interested persons in appealing to the State Legis¬ lature. which early in the following year established a public Museum of Fine Arts in Boston by granting the present char¬ ter. No support from State or City was provided for, and none has ever been received. In granting the Museum the site of the first building on Copley Square, the City acted as agent for the Boston Water Power Company, from whom it had re¬ ceived the property for a museum or park. Among the founders of the Museum, Martin Brimmer, its President for twenty-five years until his death in 1895, and Charles C. Perkins, Honorary Director for sixteen Founders years until his death in 1888, should be named first. The reports and published addresses of both testify to their high conception and clear grasp of the essential purposes of the Museum. The first executive officer appointed was General Charles G. Loring, a veteran of the Civil War and both before and after a traveller in Egypt and student of Egyp¬ tology. General Loring remained in genera! charge of the Mu¬ seum for twenty-six years as Curator and afterward Director, from its opening in 1876 until his resignation in 1902, and at his death a few months later was Director Emeritus. 436 THE MUSEUM AND ITS HISTORY At a meeting held February 3, 1871, in Music- Hall, a committee was appointed to solicit subscriptions for a Museum building. The amount ultimately obtained was $261,000. From a number of competitive designs for a fireproof structure, the plans of Sturgis & Brigham, well- Building known architects of Boston, were selected. A wing of the building was dedicated with appropriate ceremony on July 3, 1876, and on the next day, the centennial anniver¬ sary of the Declaration of Independence, it was opened to the public. The collections of the Museum, both gifts and loans, which for four years had been exhibited in two rooms at the Athenccum, were installed in the new structure. To complete the front of the building another popular sub¬ scription was called for in 1878. The response was prompt and generous. In 1888 another enlargement of the building became necessary. The amount received from this third subscription enabled the Trustees to erect two wings which, with a connect¬ ing corridor, completed a quadrangle. The enlarged building was opened in 1890, the contents rearranged; on the first floor, the collections of Egyptian and Classical antiquities, with casts of antique and Renaissance sculpture; on the second, the collections of paintings, minor arts of Europe, and Oriental art. Formany years the Museum was without funds for purchases, notwithstanding the utmost economy in administration. The exhibits of this period consisted almost entirely of loans. Later both bequestsand gifts were received. Henry L. Pierce, Catherine C. Perkins, Julia B. H. James, Harvey D. Parker, George B. Hyde, and a number of others, left large sums to the Museum, and those benefactions have been continued by the bequests of R. C. Billings, C. H. Hayden, Sarah W. Whitman, Martin Brimmer, and others. Within the ten years ending in 190J the free use of funds avail¬ able for purchases more than doubled the value of the collec¬ tions belonging to the Museum. The collections of Egyptian Art now embrace sculptures, in¬ cluding royal statues from the Mycerinus Pyramid Temple at Giaeh, obtained in the course of recent excavations by the HISTORICAL DATA 437 Harvard University-Museum of Fine Arts Exploring Expedi¬ tion; smaller objects, including cut leather garment of 1350 B. C., gold ornaments, tiles. The collections «ons C ° IleC Classical Art embrace sculptures, including the Three-sided Relief (fifth century), Head of Aphrodite, female head from Chios (fourth century;, Head of Homer (Hellenistic); terra-cottas, including portrait head (Roman); vases, bronzes, coins, and gems, including Marl¬ borough cameo (Graeco-Roman). The collections of Chinese and Japanese Art embrace sculptures of wood, bronze, marble, and lacquer from the fifth century to the present time; paint¬ ings, including the Hokke Mandara (eighth century) and the Heiji Monogatari Roll (thirteenth century); early Chinese pottery; Chinese bronze mirrors, swords, and lesser works in sculptured iron, bronze, silver, and gold; lacquers, porcelains. The collections of paintings embrace Spanish, Italian, Flemish, Dutch, French, English, and American examples, including Don Baltazar Carlos and His Dwarf, Velasquez; Slave Ship, Turner; Watson and the Shark, Copley; Athenaeum Heads of George Washington and Martha Washington, Stuart. In the other collections of Western Art the collections of Mohammedan art embrace pottery, including the Sears Persian lustre bowl (thirteenth century), Persian illuminations, Persian rugs, and velvets. The collections of European Art embrace textiles, in¬ cluding Flemish tapestries (fifteenth and early sixteenth cen¬ turies); sculpture, including Head of Ceres, by Auguste Rodin; smaller objects, including Paul Revere silver. The collection of Prints consists of 80,000 examples. The collection of Plaster Casts contains several hundred casts from Greek, Roman, and Italian Renaissance sculpture. The Library contains 50,000 books and pamphlets and 50,000 photographs; all chosen with special reference to the Museum collections and intended for the use of both Staff and public. For several years after the building was opened, the adminis¬ trative work of the Museum was performed by the Director and the Secretary with a small number of assistants. In 1885 two of the departments were placed in charge of men of special 438 THE MUSEUM AND ITS HISTORY competence Since that time numerous additions have been made tothestaff of trained men upon whose judgment theTrus- tees have relied in the choice of acquisitions and the arrangement of exhibits, and to whom the pub- Administra- lic have come to look for aid in the understanding of the collections. To the band of active-minded and devoted scholars who are or have been identified directly or indirectly with its interests, the Museum owes much of its present stand¬ ing abroad and influence at home. In 1906 Visiting Com¬ mittees to the Departments of the Museum were appointed, and in 1908 Advisory Committees upon branches of its activity. The development of the methods of the Museum has kept pace with the growth of its means. The Museum has sought to attain its first charter purpose — that of pro¬ tecting works of art from destruction and oblivion Methods of . Public in a special building — by providing in the new Service Structure (1909) the best conditions of safety; by arranging therein exhibition galleries in which each object is shown to the best possible advantage; by stimulating public interest through alternative exhibitions drawn from collections held in reserve; and by promoting understanding of the ob¬ jects shown, through both oral and printed interpretation. The methods of oral interpretation employed include Gallery Conferences (since January, 1908) by officers of the Museum and other competent persons on objects shown at the time; the assignment of these and other speakers under the title of Docent (since April, 190?) to the duty of meeting visitors singly or in groups in the galleries to give information about the exhibits. The Sunday Docent Service (since January, 1908) includes guidance, talks, and department circuits offered by profes¬ sional men and others of special training. Printed aids to un¬ derstanding the collections include labels and chart books in the galleries, a Handbook (first edition, August, 1906), Bulletin (first issue, March, 1903), and other publications; photographs (since May, 1882), postal cards (since 1907), and half-tones illus¬ trating Museum objects sold at the door; teachers' lists (since HISTORICAL DATA 439 1908) of objects relating to historical periods and teachers’ loan collections of photographs and lantern slides. The Museum has sought to attain its second charter purpose — that of imparting knowledge and skill in the field of fine art — by maintaining a library of fine art (since 1877): by giving free admission to students and copyists (since 1876); by providing in its new building (1909) reserve galleries in which each object can be studied to the best advantage; by offering special stu¬ dents opportunities for work in the Department offices (since 1887); by publishing catalogues of permanent value(since 1887); by arranging courses of lectures on subjects germane to the col¬ lections (since 1892, University Extension courses since 1908,); by establishing a public inventory of works of art outside the Museum, interesting and accessible to the Boston public, under the title of a Registry of Local Art (since October, 1909); and by giving the best instruction practicable in the arts of drawing, painting, modelling, and designing in the School of the Mu¬ seum (classes begun 1876; reorganized as the School of the Museum, 1901). Three circumstances led the Trustees in 1899 to consider seeking a new site and erecting a new building — the inad¬ equacy of the Copley Square building and lot for Studies for the future accommodation of the Museum, the the New Museum danger of fire from high neighboring structures, and the obstruction of light thereby. The grounds on which the present Museum stands, covering twelve acres fronting on Huntington Avenue and the Fenway, were pur¬ chased by vote of the Board on December 5, 1899. On April 22, 1902, the sale of the Copley Square property was effected and on May 27 a Building Committee was appointed, under the Chairmanship of Samuel D. Warren, “with full powers to procure plans, specifications, and estimates for Museum buildings on the Fenway land.” At a number of meetings of the Building Committee the question of a competition of architects was carefully considered, the decision of the Committee being to select two architects who should report a building scheme without prejudice to the 440 THE MUSEUM AND ITS HISTORY right of the Trustees to proceed thereafter as they might elect. In accordance with this decision, the Committee in the follow¬ ing November commissioned Mr. R. Clipston Sturgis in con¬ sultation with Mr. Edmund M. Wheelwright to collaborate with the Committee and the Staff of the Museum in studying the possibilities of the Fenway site and in formulating a possi¬ ble solution of the building problem both in writing and by drawings and sketches. In order to the best utilization of the property, the Trustees asked and obtained from the city a change in the layout of Huntington entrance and the Fenway, replacing its original curves by rectangular outlines. The series of studies which have ended in the present plan were begun in January, 1903, and actively prosecuted. They are recorded in several scores of progressively changing sketch- plans based on many hundred detail drawings, and their direct written result includes, besides reports from Messrs. Sturgis and Wheelwright and from others, two volumes entitled “Communications to the Trustees regarding the new build¬ ing” Nos. 1 and 2, privately printed in March and December, 1904-, and containing, with extracts from recent literature on museum construction and administration, papers contributed by officers of the Museum. In December, 1903, the Building Committee, with the approval of the Trustees, commissioned the architects and the Director to study European museums. Accompanied by the President of the Museum, the party spent the following three months (January to April, 19(H) in Europe, visiting one hundred and four museums and galleries in thirty cities. An illustrated volume containing reports of observa¬ tions by Messrs. Sturgis and Wheelwright, architects, was privately printed in January, 1905, as No. 3 of Communica¬ tions to the Trustees. During the summer of 1903 the Com¬ mittee authorized the erection of a temporary structure on the Fenway site for the purpose of experiments in the lighting of galleries. The work was conducted at first under the super¬ vision of Professor Charles L. Norton of the Institute of Technology, and later in the immediate charge of Mr. W. R. McCornaek, in co-operation with Messrs. Sturgis and Wheel- HISTORICAL DATA 441 wright, architects and with the committees and officers of the Museum. Experiments were continued for two years, and in January, 1906. an illustrated volume entitled “The Experi¬ mental Gallery.” embodying the results of the tests made, was privately printed as No. 4 of Communications to the Trustees. In October, 1905, the Building Committee requested and received from Professor D. Despradelle of the Institute of Technology a criticism of the studies for the new building made since 1903, which included sketch-plans submitted by officers of the Museum during the preceding summer at the instance of the Committee. Three months later, in January, 1906, the Committee presented to the Trustees a unanimous report, accompanied by a sketch-plan, elevations, and a per¬ spective. drawn by Professor Despradelle, and recommended that instead of instituting a competition the Trustees should appoint Mr. Guy Lowell as architect of the building, with Messrs. E. M. Wheelwright, R. C. Sturgis, and D. Despradelle as consulting architects, to carry out the design in substantial compliance with the general requirements of the Committee as elaborated during the previous three years. The Trustees responded by authorizing the Committee to obtain plans in general accordance with their recommendations, and on the 19th of the following July the Committee presented to the Trustees plans, elevations, sections, and a perspective prepared by Mr. Lowell. These were accepted and adopted by the Trustees, who, at a subsequent meeting held February 4, 1907, authorized the signing of a contract for that part of the structure which had been planned in detail for immediate erection. On April 11 ground was broken. On July 18 Mr. Warren resigned the Chairmanship of the Building Committee, re¬ maining a member; and Mr. Henry S. Hunnewell, a member of the Committee from the beginning, was appointed in his stead. Two years and four months later, November 15, 1909, the building was opened to the public. The total cost of the new Museum was about $2,900,000. 442 THE MUSEUM AND ITS HISTORY The sum of $1,200,000 was expended for land and improve¬ ments, $1,600,000 for the building itself, and $100,000 for moving and installation. These expenditures have been de¬ frayed from the proceeds of the sale of the old building ($1,750,000), contributions from private individuals ($600,000), and appropriations from the Museum endowment (about $500,000). The building contains eight structurally separate departments, — Egyptian Art, Classical Art, Western (Euro¬ pean and Mohammedan) Art, Chinese and Japanese Art, Pictures, Prints, Casts, and Library, — the main iloor being chiefly devoted to exhibitions historically arranged and in¬ stalled to show each object to the best advantage, and the ground floor to reserve collections accessible to all visitors and to study and administration rooms; both floors being abun¬ dantly lighted, mostly by high windows. An area of 94-,882 square feet of floor space is devoted to primary exhibition pur¬ poses and 82,137 square feet to reserve collections, offices, workrooms, etc. Plans for the eventual development of the Fenway property contemplate buildings covering the entire site. These consist of the completed Museum to the east, a building to the northwest for casts from sculpture, and J he r C°mpl ete d another to the southwest for the School of the Museum Museum, replacing the present provisional struc¬ ture. The gift from Mrs. Robert Dawson Evans in May, 1911, of that portion of the Fenway front designed as a picture gallery assures the completion of the Museum in general accordance with the original plans. In the completed Museum the present Rotunda on the main floor, reached by the stairway from the entrance, will be about equally distant from the centre of the principal departments. Straight on northward a gallery for tapestries now leads to the Picture Gallery lying east and west on the Fenway. The present galleries east and west of the Rotunda will in future give access eastward to the wing on Huntington Avenue, then to be devoted entirely to Flgyptian Art, and to a block on Huntington entrance to be devoted to Classical Art; and HISTORICAL DATA 443 FO&EGOVRT 444 THE museum and its history westward to the wing 1 on Huntington Avenue, then devoted wholly to Chinese and Japanese Art, and to a new interior block to be devoted to Western Art. From the lobby of the Picture Gallery on the Fenway an interior corridor, continued as an external loggia fronting northward, will lead east and west to galleries accessible either through existing Depart¬ ments, and hence available for their extension, or through corridors only, and hence available for new Departments. Four principles of arrangement determined the plan of the completed building, and have been adhered to as far as possible in housing the collections and work of the Museum in the present fraction of the whole design. Division in Plan. The building is not a single museum, but a group of several, each devoted to collections of one origin or of one character, and each accessible without traversing any other. Separation by Resting Places. The grounds and open courts of the building, the halls and loggias connecting the depart¬ ments, offer opportunities for relaxation and diversion among surroundings either of natural beauty or of architectural dignity. Division in Elevation. Almost the entire main floor is de¬ voted to exhibition, while a large part of the ground floor is devoted to rooms for study and for objects arranged compactly for preservation, both study and store rooms being open to the public upon application. Oblique Illumination. Most of the galleries are lighted by high windows instead of from overhead, and the size and ar¬ rangement of both windows and skylights throughout the building are the fruit of observation and experiment directed to securing ample and well-directed illumination in all parts of every room. These four provisions aim to obviate recognized hindrances to the fullest effect of museum collections upon the visitor. The separation of departments prevents confusion and distrac¬ tion of thought; intermediate resting places forestall fatigue of body and mind; opportunities for instruction render the exhibits comprehensible; well designed light openings make them visible. The plans permit of meeting a fifth hindrance 445 HISTORICAL DATA 446 THE MUSEUM AND ITS HISTORY to the vital influence of museums — that of their sameness of attraction — by providing opportunities for the alternation of exhibits on the two floors, and for occasions having to do with the collections — conferences, meetings, social gather¬ ings, even plays or concerts — in the halls and gardens of the building. The Museum in its second home promises the city a new agency of spiritual well being; not dedicated to discipline of mind or direction of conscience, like a school or a church, but, like the shrine of the Muses whence it takes its name, sacred to the nurture of the imagination. Fenway Front of the Museum Robert Dawson Emms Galleries for Paintings CHRONOLOGY 447 CHRONOLOGY The Museum Incorporated February 4, 1870 DEPARTMENTS The Museum placed under the general charge and manage¬ ment of a Curator (afterward Director) January 21, 1876. The title of the office changed to Director April 21, 1887, at which time the office of Honorary Curator, instituted in 1876, was discontinued and the appointment of Curators with special duties authorized. Library organized July 17, 1879. Print Department established February 1 , 1887. Department of Classical Antiquities established March 1, 1887. Japanese Department established March 15, 1890. The title changed to “Department of Chinese and Japanese Art” April 28, 1903. The name of the School of Drawing and Painting (maintained since January 2, 1877, in the Museum building) changed to “School of the Museum of Fine Arts” October 17, 1901. Keepership of Paintings instituted August 1, 1902. Department of Egyptian Art created September 15, 1902. Honorary Curatorship of Western Art (except paintings and textiles) created April 21 , 1910 . Curatorship of Painting created May 11, 1911. Keepership of Indian Art established April 26, 1917. Honorary Keepership of Coins instituted July 17, 1919. LAND AND BUILDINGS Land on Copley Square given by the City May 26, 1870. West wing upon Copley Square opened to the public July 4, 1876. Completed front on Copley Square opened July 1 , 1879. Southern corridor and connecting wings opened March 18, 1890. Land on the Fenway purchased December, 1899. Land and buildings on Copley Square sold April 22, 1902. Ground broken for the Huntington Avenue Building April 11, 1907. Huntington Avenue Building opened November 15, 1909. Robert Dawson Evans Galleries for Paintings opened February 3, 1915. 448 THE MUSEUM AND ITS HISTORY Location of the Museum Buildings f T. O. Metcalf Company, Boston, U. S. A. ADMISSION TO THE MUSEUM 449 THE MUSEUM FREE TO ALL January 18, 1918 In pursuance of a recommendation by the President of the Museum presented at the annual meeting, January 17, 1918, the Trustees voted that admission to the Museum should be free to the public until further notice. The vote ended a prac¬ tice followed since the Museum was opened in 1876. The gift to the Museum from the Boston Water Power Company, acting through theCity, of thesiteof thefirstbuildingon Copley Square was conditioned upon freeopeningduring at least fourdays each month. In compliance with thiscondition, theMuseum has been openfreeon Saturdaysfrom the beginning, and since 1877, when the building was opened free on Sundays also, the condition has been doubly met. The five other weekdays, excepting when public holidays, from the first remained days of paid admission. The sum received from entrance fees on these days continued to be a source of revenue too considerable to neglect. It has at length been dispensed with altogether in the confident expec¬ tation that the private gifts on which the Museum exclusively depends will eventually, and perhaps at once, more than make good the losses. The step is one of far reaching significance. In abolishing admission fees the Museum announces onceforall that, although wholly supported by private gifts, its intents and purposes are those of a public institution. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS TO THE MUSEUM A subscription of $10 or upwards entitles the subscriber to an invitation to all general receptions and private views held at the Museum during the current year, with copies of the Annual Report and of the bi-monthly Bulletin of the Museum; also, upon application to the Secretary of the Museum, to a copy of the Handbook of the Museum in the current edition. FORM OF BEQUEST I give, devise, and beque t th to the Museum of Fine Arts of Boston. (dollars or description of property or objects given). GROUND FLOOR The exhibition galleries of the Print Department and the gallery of Water Colors are on the entrance floor on either side the vestibule of the Evans building. The rest of the entrance floor is occupied by secondary collections and offices. Not all the contents of the Museum can be shown at once. Each department possesses a larger or smaller reserve collection which may be drawn upon for alter¬ native exhibition in the main galleries. Persons especially interested are welcome in the department offices for conference with the officers and study of objects not shown at the time. On the opposite plan the offices are indicated as follows: Administration. A Western Art . . . . . WA Secretary of the Museum, S Egyptian Art . .... E Prints. Pr Textile Study . .... Tx Classical Art. Cl Paintings . . . .... Pa Chinese and Japanese Art. Superintendent of the C&J Building . . .... SB Catalogues and Photographs.CP Office hours, 11 to 12.30 and, except on Saturdays, 2 to 3 P. M. The Library, the Textile Study, and the offices of the Department of Prints and the Superintendent of the Building are open during Museum hours. Apply at the office of the Administration for Docent appointments. The Lecture Hall is on the entrance floor, and is entered from the Crypt beyond the main stairway. The Forecourt Room at the Huntington Avenue entrance, reached through the Catalogue office, is occupied from time to time by Temporary Exhibitions. CRYPT Women- '» CASTS OF !GREEK*R?AKM = SCULPTURE IFOMOOUI ROOM ICIASS ROME GROUND FLOOR PLAN CASTS OF ITALIAN SCULPTURI GETTY CENTER LIBRARY 3 3125 00730 4500